


Reclaiming the Kingdom

by GuiltyKingOumaShu



Series: Reclaiming [2]
Category: Guilty Crown
Genre: Betrayal, Canon Continuation, F/M, Lemon, Multiple Factions, Romance, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-03-31 13:59:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 246,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3980710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuiltyKingOumaShu/pseuds/GuiltyKingOumaShu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shu and Inori have been had. Having been set up by Da'ath and caught in a trap, the two monarchs find themselves to be branded as bio-terrorists by the government. With the return of the apocalypse virus, the whole city of Tokyo enters another state of total lock-down with the Japanese Self Defense Force seizing control of the area. At least at first, for the return of Mana and her Mananites forces them to abandon Loop Seven and isolate the perimeters from the rest of Tokyo. While the forces of Da'ath claim Tennozu High as their new base, Shu and Inori see themselves forced to go into hiding in the industrial district of Yokohama, where they decide to revive their old terrorist group: Funeral Parlor. Now the four forces have no other choice but to clash in order to claim the kingdom of Tokyo for themselves. But in a battle in which there can only be one victor, who will be the one who will remain once the dust settles and the smoke blows away? [Second installment of the Reclaiming-series]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back to the roots

**Reclaiming the kingdom**

**1\. Back to the roots**

"Man, it's cold…" A grumpy sounding voice could be heard. It belonged to a man in his early thirties, who was busy breathing some warm air into his folded hands followed by rubbing them together before hiding them deep into the pockets of his coat again. He had black hair and a short beard in the matching color, which he was kind of grateful for. It surely wasn't much, but the skin on his face was clearly happy about every bid of warmth it managed to conserve as he was standing on top of an old, run down office building together with two other people. They were looking down at the streets of loop seven, so the view naturally wasn't all that beautiful, nor was it really surprising to see a scenery adorned by nearly ruined buildings and streets covered in all sorts of filth. There were some new additions, though, which were pretty much the reason why these 3 men were standing guard up there in the first place. Additions such as burning cars, scattered pieces of destroyed endlaves and a bunch of lunatics who were busy running around the streets with their voids in hands to do all sorts of mischief.

There were various types of them with some being aggressive and bloodthirsty while others seemed to be merely bored out of their mind. Their ages ranged from teens to middle aged men and women who all did as they pleased. Some were fighting each other for unknown reasons, while others just lurked around in groups, casually walking down the streets together in order to find something 'interesting' to do. The more you looked at them, the less you would think any of their actions made much sense. And though they all apparently shared the common thread of being able to wield voids, they sure as hell didn't really appear to care much about each other outside of their own small circles of 5-7 people the 3 men happened to spot among them every once in a while.

If the trio on the roof knew anything about these freaks down the street, then it was the fact that they were the enemy who has suddenly popped out in loop seven out of nowhere about two weeks ago. They weren't organized at all and you wouldn't call them skilled fighters, but there was a large amount of them and their ability to use voids made up for the fact that they all pretty much lacked discipline. It was no wonder that these guys were able to seize loop seven and some of the outskirts in the blink of an eye before the military could push them back and erect a barrier. Not that it was all that unbreakable, though. The trio was sure the void users would easily be able to sneak out of it, if only they put their minds together and worked as a team instead of behaving like cavemen. The three men were living proof of that as they were able to easily enter loop seven with the help of some invisibility cloaks without even the slightest suspicion of the military. With the only recently reintroduced Japanese Self Defense Force, or short SDF, still being somewhat understaffed, it wasn't really unexpected for them to have all their hands full with keeping the void freaks at bay. That's why it was an easy task for some experienced mercenaries like them to enter unnoticed.

"Well, that's winter for you. Merry Christmas, by the way." The second man next to the grumpy one said nonchalantly and with a smirk. He was a couple of years younger than the man in his thirties and like everyone in this small team of 3, he was clad in the old, grayish and black Undertaker uniform with its trademark red stripe on the right side. Wearing it seemed to fill the brown haired youth with enormous pride for some strange reason. He was leaning against the narrow stone ledge that served as some kind of safety measure so people standing up there wouldn't fall off the roof just for making a wrong step. He claimed he leaned against it to stay hidden while he observed the enemy, but from his relaxed position it was fairly obvious he was just lazing around and clearly disinterested in them.

"'Merry Christmas' my ass. Why is it that Japan always gets into a disaster near Christmas lately? There was Lost Christmas, then there was that semi-apocalypse which also happened around Christmas…now it's this. Can't a different country be affected by that shit for a change? Jeez…"

"Quit complaining, old man. At least you got to fight alongside Ouma Shu 5 years ago. You saved the world with a hero. That's an honor." The younger one said with a grin to which the older one just answered with a sigh while scratching the back of his head.

"You make it sound like I actually saw the fight…I was merely keeping the enemy busy together with the rest while his group pushed forward. The only times I actually saw him was when he left and when we dug him up out of the collapsed GHQ building. He was lucky to be still alive back then."

"Still, that's pretty awesome. You were part of the group who saved humanity! I wish I had joined Funeral Parlor back then. I could have been a part of history, too."

"Don't be ridiculous. What would we have done with a greenhorn like you? The only reason why you are allowed to join now is because there aren't many Undertakers left anymore, so Shu had to make do with you and the rest of the fanboys willing to join our cause." The middle aged Undertaker-veteran smirked and gave the youngling a playful hit on the shoulder. "Better be grateful for that, kid."

"I am plenty grateful as it is. Working under a hero is an honor." Was what the greenhorn mumbled while he was busy massaging the spot on his shoulder his companion managed to hit a little too hard for his liking.

"Sure doesn't look like it, when all you ever do is laze around on the job." Came the remark of the third guy in the group. Like the youngster he was teasing, he too, was sitting on the ground and leaning against the shut door which led to the lower floors of the building. His arms were stretched in the air and both his companions could still hear the yawn he managed to utter just prior to speaking up.

"Like you are one to talk, Juan. All you did today was sitting there and take a nap…I am amazed your butt hasn't frozen off sitting on that cold floor all day." The oldest man told him with another sigh and his arms folded in front of his chest.

"Hey, someone had to guard the escape route, no?" Was all the teen replied to that. He merely shrugged and folded his arms behind his head to allow him to lean back on them, instead of the hard wall. "Besides…it only takes one guy to spy on the enemy…there is no need for all three of us to look at these idiots down there all day."

"You are just bitter you lost at rock paper scissors and were stuck with this observation mission." Juan merely sent an annoyed glare at the youth in front of him who was only slightly older than him and also grinning at him playfully.

"Well, maybe. It's not like there is a point in doing this all the time. I've seen these Mananites for 5 years, so they ain't going to spark my interest now."

"It still doesn't hurt to watch and get to know the enemy. Unlike with all those _Evolvies_ like you, it is actually the first time for normal people like us to see and fight people with increased senses and voids." The veteran pointed at himself and the newbie next to him, when he mentioned 'normal people'.

"Oh, so I am an anomaly now, huh?" The black haired teen said and rolled his eyes at them. "Besides, the correct term for us would be Genesis. Get your facts straight." He mumbled the last part quietly.

"Who cares what you call yourself. I would just say you guys are 'special'."

"Other word, same meaning…" Juan waved that statement off disappointedly and sighed. "Next thing you know, you guys might actually study those Mananites to find weaknesses only to use them against _us_ the moment you have dealt with _them_."

"Don't be stupid, why would we do that? We are friends, right?" The greenhorn amongst them tried to laugh the matter off as if it only had been a joke, but found himself to be the only one laughing. He eyed both his comrades nervously and asked again: "Right?"

"Hrmpf…not so sure about that, kid. Juan and his evolved friends seem to not trust us at all. Makes me wonder why we should trust them, either." The oldest one directed his words at the newbie, but looked at Juan with narrowed eyes as he talked. Juan mirrored that action.

"Maybe I wouldn't have so much a problem with you all if it weren't for those looks of suspicion everybody tends to give me and my friends. Mind telling me what everyone's deal is? You guys having a problem with us apocalypse victims?"

"I wouldn't actually call you victims if all you got out of it are superpowers…same ones like those guys down there have, actually. I guess some people start to ask themselves why it is that we fight one, but support the other?"

Juan finally stood up and pointed his finger at the Undertaker veteran in front of him angrily. "The fact that you can't distinguish us from those crazy Mananites is proof enough that you know nothing about us, old man. You and the other members of that former terrorism group spend their days observing Mananites every day, yet you never learn anything from it."

"Then why won't your kind be nice enough to tell us what the best way to fight them is? I am sure it would earn you all a lot of trust from us if you showed a bit more cooperation here…"

"The best way to fight them? Sure, just shoot them in all three of their hearts at the same time. That's the fastest way to kill them." The teen told both his comrades with a shrug as if he wanted to tell them: "Isn't that obvious?"

"Three hearts?" Both, the newbie's and the veteran's, faces were formed into a shocked grimace the moment they heard that. Only more reason for Juan to sigh at them in annoyance.

"I can't believe you actually believed that for even a second. What kind of aliens do you think we are? See this?" He showed them his bare hand and pointed at his fingers with the other. "Two hands, five fingers. Also, two eyes, two legs, one of each vital organ and certainly no tails, horns or scales. Sure, I also have a void, but you guys actually have one, too. The only difference is that I can draw it out and you don't. Does that make me less a human?"

"The reason you are human only makes it even scarier. After all, humans are the only creatures on earth capable to slaughter each other simply because they don't like the look of each other's faces. I just can't help but wonder what might happen if we accepted you and you would eventually decide that you won't have further need for us 'lower humans'." The veteran used the index and middle finger on each of his hand to emphasize how little he actually liked the sound of the last two words of his sentence. Not that it would have been necessary since his face showed his disgust clearly enough.

"You know…the more I talk to you, the more I think that's what we actually should do. If all we ever get from you for being different is your suspicion, then we might as well crush you and be done with it."

Juan and the Undertaker veteran locked gazes and showed each other their gritted teeth. The third guy in the group had all his hands full with keeping his friends from jumping at each other's throat.

"Come on, guys! Cut it out! Don't make me tell the leader that you guys endangered the mission by needlessly fighting each other!"

That, somehow, made both of them stop for a second. A nervous grin appeared on their faces where there had been angry glares earlier.

"Come on, Toshi…surely there won't be a need for that…right?" The last bit of Juan's sentence was directed at the person he was just fighting with a second ago. The older man merely laughed awkwardly and put an arm around Juan's shoulders in a seemingly friendly way.

"Yes, yes. We were just kidding around. No hard feelings at all."

"I see, that's good. I wouldn't have guessed you two would have so much respect for Shu, though." The newbie called Toshi replied with a smile. Juan and the older man next to him just shared a depressing look at the last remark.

"It's not Shu we fear but Yahiro, who will surely assign us to shitty missions behind Shu's back for having made trouble again…" Juan mumbled under his breath so only he and the man next to him could hear.

"And if it's not Yahiro, it's that damn little brother of his, who will make us do kitchen work all day…" He added with an understanding nod. Both of them clearly didn't seem to be very keen on experiencing either of those scenarios.

"Hey, it's getting late. Think we should return?" Toshi said, totally oblivious to the secret remarks of his fellow comrades.

"Yeah, let's just call it a day. I am hungry as hell." The oldest amongst them agreed with a sigh. "It's not like we will make much progress today anyway." He looked into the direction in which a tall crystal building could be seen in the distance. It didn't seem so far away, but for all it mattered, there could as well have been miles between them, for it simply wasn't reachable for them. The closer you ventured into loop seven and the crystal structure, the more Mananites you would encounter. And there simply was a limit to how many the trio could bypass without getting spotted and most likely butchered by these lunatics.

"Yeah…no matter how you look at it, it's impossible to sneak deeper into loop seven without being noticed. The more you venture into the area, the more Mananite-infested it becomes…I wonder what Shu's going to do…we can't sit around for much longer, can we?" said Toshi with a worried expression.

The black haired teenager made a worried grimace and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I would rather have him sit around and think about a good plan than having us recklessly engage the enemy face on. The prospect of dying sounds a LOT more worrying now that I am out of the void realm and thus no longer 'immortal'."

"Waiting this one out might work out for you and your evolved friends, since you became immune to the virus, but everyone else would rather see Shu DO something before everything goes to shit again." The Undertaker veteran grumbled in annoyance. Juan only waved it off.

"I get it, I get it. You guys stand at risk to die either way, so you would rather die in battle. That's nice and all, but that just won't work for me. While it is true that I would like to prevent another apocalypse for the sakes of my friends and family back home, I would just rather stay alive now that I am finally out of that hell of a void realm."

"Coward…" He heard the old man mumble.

"At least he is honest, you will have to give him that." Was Toshi's remark to that. "I have to admit, would hate to die, too, to be honest." The youngster added with a sheepish grin.

"Some terrorists you turn out to be…I miss the old Undertakers…back then, no one was afraid to die for a higher cause. We all had honor."

"Yeah, like Gai Tsutsugami had when he pretty much turned against you, right?" Juan merely added with an evil smirk. He earned a very angry glare in return for that.

"You are _really_ starting to piss me off, brat."

Juan backed off slightly upon hearing the terrifying sound of the veteran's voice and drew out his void with a nervous smile. "Whoa, that's some sca-ry look you have there, buddy. I guess I will go ahead and return to base without you. You won't need me to sneak past the military barrier anyway, right?" He didn't wait for their reply. Instead, he simply boarded his hoverboard-like void and took off. "See ya!"

The two remaining men simply watched him vanish in the distance. "I really can't stand that guy…" The older one admitted with folded arms and an angry sigh.

"I just hope he won't forget to put on his stealth cloak when he passes the security barrier of the military…" were Toshi's worries.

"I hope he does. Maybe they will shoot him down."

"Make sure no one else besides me will hear those remarks…you might get into trouble."

"Yeah, yeah…"

And with that, both of them grabbed their stuff, put on their stealth cloaks and headed towards the door that would lead them back to the ground floor. Unlike Juan, they had to walk back through the streets and make sure no one saw them. It wasn't as much a hard task as it was bothersome since the Mananites were dumb and easily tricked and the military barrier easy to breach if you knew where to look for weaknesses. Hopefully it wouldn't take them too long to return…

-GC-

"… _local authorities are still investigating the exact cause of the sudden return of the apocalypse virus. A threat commonly believed to have mysteriously vanished 5 years ago, only to reappear on the night of the 10th December 2044 in the middle of Tokyo. While concrete details regarding that matter are still not given out to the public by the military, it has become clear that their prime suspect is no one else but Ouma Shu, the man widely known amongst Japanese citizens for supposedly cleansing the world off the virus on the 13_ _th_ _December reason for that suspicion was caused by an anonymously submitted video showing him together with a small group of 3 other people -believed to be Yahiro Samakuwa, Ayase Shinomiya and Tsugumi Sendo- sneaking into Loop Seven only a few hours before the outbreak that would occur later that day. The General of the Japanese SDF will shortly have a press conference in which he intends to… "_

"…Jeez, is that the photo of me I used when I applied for a job as a teacher? If I had known it would eventually get broadcasted on TV, I would have used a better one…" A certain dark haired hacker with the name of Tsugumi said disapprovingly when a picture of her and her friends showed up on the news. She was watching it with narrowed eyes and with her head resting on her right hand in a bored manner. Never would she have thought she would eventually end up in her old communication room in the former Funeral Parlor backup hideout again, but there she was, sitting in front one of her dozen monitors like in the old days. She was surprised the old equipment she had left behind in here was still operational, but then again. It was HER who had set it all up, so she should have thought nothing less about this place. High quality equipment for a highly skilled professional like her. She grinned proudly as she held up her head high in the air. And as she was in the middle of enjoying her self-praise, as if fate was to mock her, one of the monitors started to flicker and show static.

She grumbled in annoyance and gave it a hard hit with her hand to make it work again, which it did afterwards. Well, let's just say SOMEWHAT high quality equipment for a highly skilled professional...

Truth to be told, she would have preferred to be in their original main base at Roppongi Fort again, but sadly, with the old base lying near the center of Loop seven, they had had little choice but to fall back to one of their backup hideouts in Yokohama. Funeral Parlor had hardly ever used it back in the day, but Gai had still told them to set it up here in case they would ever be forced to abandon Roppongi Fort. It was located in one of the many factories which got abandoned after the economy crashed during Lost Christmas. GHQ had done little to stabilize it back then and even though it had been recovering little by little during the past 5 years, Yokohama had still been far from being back to its former glory as Tokyo's main industrial sector. And seeing how the country was faced with yet another apocalypse virus related disaster, things might not change regarding that matter.

The news lady on the screen vanished and made room for a bulky looking middle aged man in a higher ranked military uniform and a slightly graying mustache. Lots of lower ranked military men could be seen standing next and behind him as he was addressing a crowd of reporters in front of a huge Japanese flag. How patriotic.

Tsugumi recognized him but couldn't be bothered to remember his name. To her, he was just some random guy who got to be in charge of the still newly founded Japanese military. Luckily for her, the news was nice enough to show his name while he was talking. General Takeshi Iwamoto, or so it said. Of course he had military experience and was thus qualified for the job, but she knew for a fact that qualification didn't always mean that a job would end up being done well.

" _Can you tell us anything about the people you are searching for?"_ asked one reporter in the crowd gathered in front of him.

" _We regret to admit that most of the documents and data collected by the former government has been lost to us upon its collapse, thus leaving us with a bit of a lack of data about said citizens. However, even though most files regarding these people may be lost, it is still believed that there had been a connection between them in the past. It wouldn't been unlikely for them to have been part of the former terrorist group 'Funeral Parlor', which was rumored to having been disbanded a few days after the fall of GHQ._

" _Are you saying there might be a connection between Funeral Parlor and the return of the apocalypse virus?"_

" _That is exactly what we believe right now. The sole fact that these 4 citizens were seen sneaking into an off-limit zone together which turned out to be the center of the outbreak only a few hours later and are now all missing could suggest that the group could still be active and was, in fact, never disbanded in the first place. Not only that, but the sudden appearance of a high amount of people wielding unique and powerful weapons called 'voids' further hints at the direct involvement of Ouma Shu, who is said to be the only person alive to be able to provide people with such dangerous weaponry. It is possible for him to have used the 5 years of peace in order to recruit new people to his cause. However, it is still unclear to us what their goal might be."_

" _Can you tell us more about these 'voids' you have just mentioned? What about these mysterious soldiers wielding them in loop seven?"_

_The General merely shook his head dismissively in front of the crowd. "I am afraid I can't answer these questions. This kind of information is to be kept under concealment for now and should only be available to people involved with the investigation."_

" _Given the fact that the military has had 2 weeks to capture the missing individuals and still has achieved nothing has risen the question of the military's competence in dealing with this matter. Do you have anything to say to that?"_

" _I can understand the worries of the people, but I can assure you that we have everything under control. We were fast to erect a barrier around Tokyo as well as loop seven to keep further infections to a minimum. Furthermore, although the people living in Tokyo have proven to carry the virus in them, we were able to distribute leftover vaccines from 5 years ago quickly enough to prevent people from suffering its symptoms. We have already started the production of further doses to make sure the people of Tokyo will not come to harm. And because, as you all know, we were successful in trapping the void terrorists inside loop seven, life in the rest of Tokyo can continue as it did before the sudden outbreak. We guarantee further support with food, water and vaccinations for all citizens of Tokyo as long as this incident lasts. And regarding Ouma Shu and his acquaintances, there is no need to worry. We are positive that they are still somewhere in this city. It can only be a matter of time until we finally get a hold of them. "_

" _Doesn't this look like the beginning of the whole loop seven disaster 5 years ago? What guarantee do we have that you won't simply decide to slaughter the people trapped in the city like GHQ did back then?"_

" _The barrier's purpose is preventing the spread of the virus, as well as keeping the culprit responsible for this incident trapped in Tokyo, since it is highly unlikely that he could have escaped in the given time. Lifting the barrier would not only endanger the rest of Japan because of the virus, but also would allow Ouma Shu to flee and possibly cause more trouble inside Japan or even the rest of the world. That's why I am asking the people living in this city to bear with the situation and put their faith in the military. I will do anything in my might to solve this disaster as soon as possible while keeping the civilians save from the threat inside loop seven. You have my word on that. With that said, I am afraid I have to return to my duties. If you would excuse me…"_

The General gave the audience a polite bow and proceeded to leave the stage, followed by his underlings. He ignored all further questions directed at him from the reporters. It wasn't clear if he did it to avoid their questions or if he really had a tight schedule. Whatever might have been the case, it was obvious there was nothing else to hear from him and the general public was still none the wiser about what was actually going on in their capital city.

"That's what he calls an investigation, huh…? They are just looking for people to point their finger at. There is no solid proof we did anything whatsoever…what a moron…" Tsugumi grumbled in annoyance. "Though I can't really blame him…even I can't find any useful information on what's REALLY going on out there…" she admitted bitterly.

Suddenly there was a noise coming from a different monitor. When the dark haired hacker girl turned around to check on it, she noticed that it was the one monitoring the server of the police she had hacked herself into without them noticing. She was logged in with a fake account of a police officer and had requested all files regarding the Funeral Parlor case to be sent to her whenever there was something new. An easy task for someone of her caliber, really. She had done the same with GHQ back in the days they had still offered a threat to them.

Seeing as to how there hasn't been anything new from the police in a while, Tsugumi, half curios and half worried, decided to check the file immediately, only to frown once she saw what it was.

"Haruka-mama won't like this at all…"

As if on cue, the door leading into the room slowly opened and a certain brunette scientist decided to come in. She looked awfully tired and even yawned as she lazily found her way into the younger hacker's domain.

"Hello, Tsugumi. Mind if I relax in here for a bit? I need to catch a break from all the tests on the evolved people we are running." She moaned as she collapsed onto the nearest chair she could find. "I feel like I haven't slept in days…"

"Well, you probably haven't. You tend to get so much into your science stuff that you never mind the time. Though I know that feeling…it's the same when I have a brilliant idea for a new device. In fact, just the day before yesterday I had that awesome idea for a…" Tsugumi started to get into explaining her plans for yet another machine, but soon realized that her visitor wasn't listening at all. In fact, Haruka just put her arms on the table in front of her and let her head fall on top of them, mumbling a faint: "That's really nice, Tsugumi…" as if she had already been half asleep.

"Well, sorry for being boring, jeez…" Her scowl turned into a smirk really fast once she remembered what she had just found out about the investigation of their case. "Maybe THAT will catch more of your interest, then." She hit a few buttons on her control panel and let the document she just received be printed out by Funell, who was sitting at her feet.

"That thing can print, too? Don't you think you are creating far too many features for that robot?" The brown haired scientist said as she lazily watched Funell grabbing the fully printed document with his hands and handing it to Tsugumi, who proudly took it from him.

"Not at all! There is no 'too many features' for Funell. He will be the ultimate little helper everyone will want to have in the future. I will make a lot of money and Funell will have a lot of friends to play with. Isn't that right, Funell?" The little robot at her feet made some mechanic noises as if to approve of that statement and even commenced to drive around Tsugumi in a seemingly happy way while the hacker simply handed the piece of paper she just got from him to Haruka.

"Don't tell me it's a new wanted poster of Shu…those things are everywhere around town. I've seen them so many times already, that I can recite what they say by heart." The scientist told the younger girl with a sigh as she took a hold of the object given to her.

"Not quite, but good guess."

Suddenly Haruka's eyes grew wide in surprise once she had realized the content of that sheet of paper she was holding. It was, indeed, a wanted poster, but not one of Shu. Rather it was…

"Eeeeeh? It's of meeeee?" She looked at the poster in her hands in shock. There was a picture of her to be seen on it, as well as basic information about her appearance and personal background. Certain words on it were highlighted to catch the interest of the citizens, such as 'WANTED', 'Haruka Ouma', 'bioterrorism' and 'if you have information about this person's current whereabouts, don't hesitate to contact the police immediately'.

"Congrats on finally joining the club." Tsugumi told her with a mischievous grin as she held up some of the other wanted posters of herself and her friends she had already printed out on an earlier date.

"But…why now? It's been a while since I went missing." Haruka seemed to ask herself in confusion.

"When this whole mess started I hacked myself into the server of the company you worked at and wrote that you supposedly went to take two weeks off at a friend's place two days before the incident. I even went ahead and gave them an address to the far north of Japan. Of course that address doesn't exist. I guess they finally found out about that. Took them long enough." Tsugumi explained to the scientist with a grin, who only sighed in return.

"Well, I guess it was inevitable they would tie me to the case since I am the closest relative to Shu and suspiciously vanished at the same time he did. At least I still got to take my important notes and some lab equipment from work with me before I left, thanks to you."

"I am surprised everyone at your workplace covered up for you, though. The lie would have been obvious if they had told the police that they saw you on the day of the outbreak."

Haruka merely shrugged at that. "That's because the only one to see me at work is my lab partner and I am at good terms with him. He probably heard the story of me taking days off and played along for my sake. Such a nice young man."

"Sure…nice…I bet it isn't because he secretly has a crush on you or anything…" Tsugumi mumbled to herself and rolled her eyes. When Haruka looked at Tsugumi questioningly, the younger hacker just waved it off, saying: "Nothing, nothing."

"Anyway, speaking of Shu…how is he doing lately? I hardly get to see him since he seems to be so busy. It's ironic how we never managed to spend some time together because I was working all the time in the past and now it's him who is too busy for me." The brunette woman complained with a pout and folded arms. Tsugumi merely shrugged, apparently not really surprised about Shu's tight schedule.

"Well, what did you expect now that he got pushed into the leader role once again? To tell you the truth, though, he is actually doing a fairly decent job as far as I can tell. At least he isn't using people's fear again to control them like he did in Tennozu…I don't have to peel potatoes anymore, either. So I got that much going for me, which is nice. Lucky me." She gave off a relieved sigh at the last bit.

"Still, for him having to deal with the high pressure once again…"

"Jeez, stop trying to treat the man like a kid forever. It's good he ended up growing a backbone in the end. I'll admit that his old wimpy self was kind of amusing to watch, but it's thanks to him getting stronger and having gained the respect of everyone that this weird group is even managing to stand together as one."

At first the older woman narrowed her eyes at the display of Tsugumi telling her all that with that attitude of hers that might have let you think she would know it all, but the moment she saw the hacker girl grab a screwdriver and tend to her beloved Funell again, she couldn't help but let a grin form on her lips.

"'Stop treating him like a kid', hm? I will make sure to remind you of these words once you have kids of your own one day. I can tell you will have a hard time heeding your own advice from the way you keep treating your precious creations all the time. I am sure you will be such a loving and caring mother, Tsugumi."

That seemed to have gotten Tsugumi by surprise. She suddenly turned a dark shade of red and nearly dropped the screwdriver in her hand because of that. "D-don't give me that nonsense…! As if I could ever have time for…k-kids…" She obviously hadn't expected the conversation head into THAT direction. Unfortunately for her, Haruka only seemed to gain more interest thanks to her reaction.

"How cute. I bet you are quite popular with the boys, aren't you Tsugumi?" Her grin grew even wider as she stood up and approached the younger girl. "Don't tell me you already have put your sights on someone? Spill the beans, girl. Don't worry, big-sis Haruka won't tell anyone. I might even have some useful advice for you." She said with a teasing voice and a soft giggle. Tsugumi just looked away defiantly.

"Like I care about stupid stuff like that!"

"Awww, don't be like that."

The two girls were interrupted in their 'fun' by the sound of someone clearing his throat to gain their attention. "Am I perhaps visiting at a bad time?" It was a calm, male voice with a faint trait of playfulness added into it. The two women could almost see the grin on the face of their visitor before they even turned around to look at him, simply from the sound of his voice alone. The newcomer merely lifted his right hand to greet them the moment their eyes locked with his. All while giving them a kind smile. "Good evening."

"Shu?" was all both ladies could manage to blurter out at first, followed by the brunette scientist happily moving forward to give her adoptive son a bear hug. "Come here and give your dear mother a hug, will you?"

The grown man couldn't help but slightly blush at that in shame as he kindly tried to break away. He could already hear Tsugumi snicker at them. "Mother, please…don't hug me in public…it's embarrassing."

"What are you saying, stupid Shu? I haven't seen you in, like, forever. Oh, and Inori's there, too." Haruka happily stated once she had a glance past Shu, where indeed, Inori was standing. The pink haired girl greeted both, Tsugumi and Haruka, with a polite bow and a small smile. A gesture so cute, that Haruka couldn't refrain from taking her into her bear hug with Shu as well, effectively turning it into a rather one sided group hug. Though neither Shu nor Inori complained about Haruka's antics.

"With a greeting as embarrassing as this, I am hardly surprised Shu never goes to meet up with you, Haruka-mama." Tsugumi teasingly said, still slightly grinning at the rather ridiculous sight.

"Well, I am kind of used to it, but I would still prefer if we could limit this kind of reunion-hugs to the times we are alone." Shu exhaustedly said and sighed. "At least I guess it's safe to assume that Keido is behaving well while working with you?"

His step mother eventually freed them off her hug only to show them her biggest smile. "Absolutely. You would hardly believe he is the same person from 5 years ago. It almost brings a tear to my eye to see him act more like he used to when we were younger. I actually wanted to be quite cold to him for all he had done, but I guess I can't fool anyone by pretending to not be happy he is back. Especially since he obviously carries so much regret for his past actions in his heart." She explained. Her happy voice became a bit sadder during the last part, but she still appeared to be very glad to have her brother back. Much to Shu's relief.

"He still is a stick-in-the-mud, though." He added with a chuckle to which his step mother started to laugh while ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, he is. That's probably never going to change, huh?" And after a short pause she added: "Thank you, Shu."

The young man suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable by her gratitude. Not knowing what to say, he simply decided to shyly avert his gaze, slightly muttering. "…don't mention it."

"So, what brings our glorious leader and his beloved girlfriend to my humble room?" Tsugumi suddenly decided to get to the matter in hand, though not without using the opportunity to tease them while she was at it.

Blushing even more at such an embarrassing way of addressing him, he decided to clear his throat and tried to sound a bit more serious.

"I came to inform you, that we will hold a meeting in about an hour to collect our thoughts and decide on our next move. I would like you to join us and add any information you might have gathered until now."

Tsugumi's smug grin faded once she had heard that and in its stead appeared an apologetic frown.

"I am sorry, Shu, but I am afraid I couldn't find much…"

That, in return, made Shu close his eyes in disappointment. Though it wasn't for long until a smile returned on his face once again. "I see, still…please attend and share with us what you managed to find out. Every bit helps."

"Of course. I will be there." The dark haired hacker assured him. Shu then turned towards Haruka once again.

"You can join us, too, if you want. It's not mandatory, though. I wouldn't mind if you went to rest instead, mother. You look awfully tired."

"That's my line, Shu. Do you think I am not seeing these bags under your eyes? I may be an easygoing person, but don't take me for a fool. I can clearly tell you lack sleep."

Haruka's scolding only resulted in a dismissive gesture on Shu's part. He tried to laugh the matter of with a small laugh. "I don't know what you are talking about, Mom. I get plenty of sleep."

"No, he doesn't." Inori suddenly decided to butt in as she narrowed her eyes on Shu.

"Argh, don't tell them that, Inori…!" The king moaned and turned in her direction. "Why didn't you cover for me?"

"Because Haruka is right. You need more sleep."

"See? Even Inori agrees. If you don't want to listen to your mother, then please listen to Inori. We only want the best for you, Shu." Haruka said worriedly and Inori agreed by giving her an approving nod.

"I am telling you, guys, I am fine! Now if you would excuse us, we still have work to do…" Shu hastily said, followed by gently pushing Inori out of the room and closing the door behind him. Once he was out, he didn't waste any time to grab Inori's hand and run down the corridor as fast as he could with Inori close behind him.

"Don't think this is over, Shu! Wait, Shu!" Was the last they heard of Haruka, who could only open the door and yell after them before both of them vanished behind a corner.

Shu continued to run until he was certain Haruka wouldn't go after them. As soon as he figured he was in the clear, he allowed himself to return into a normal walking pace, followed by taking a deep breath.

"Seems like we made it." He said with a sigh of relief.

"Why did we run, though?" Inori decided to ask him in confusion as they both continued to walk down the corridor.

"Come on, don't be like that. I know you both are right, but there is still too much to do before I can go and take a nap."

"You are doing enough as it is, Shu."

"Yet we haven't made any progress regarding the SDF and the Mananites in loop seven, let alone Da'ath and Mana in all those two weeks. We are running out of time…"

"It can't be helped. You were hurt."

"Yeah…Da'ath got us good…again." The brunette man couldn't help but look at his left hand. He had lost it two weeks ago when he had foolishly run into yet another trap of Da'ath, the secret organization that had kept playing with him and Inori as it pleased them since the very beginning. He hated to admit it, but for some reason, they were always a step ahead of him and Inori. They always seemed to get what they wanted. Just how in the world was he going to change that?

He was about to get lost in these heavy thoughts of his, but luckily his pink haired queen was nice enough to stop him from doing so by gently taking his hand in between her own ones.

"Shu? Does it still hurt?" she wondered worriedly.

He smiled because of her concern and shook his head. "No, not anymore. Hare did a very good job with restoring it. I'll have to thank her again later."

"I see. That's good." Shu was glad to see the worry on her face leave and be replaced by a relieved, small smile.

They then continued their walk though one of the hideout's various corridors in silence with only the echo of their footsteps to be heard. Their lack of conversations hardly came as a surprise since Inori never had been very talkactive, not that it had ever bothered Shu in the slightest. Her words may have been rare to hear, but their quality would always very well make up for that. And if he had to be honest, he would have to admit that he actually enjoyed the peace whenever he was around her. Especially since they both were in charge of leading a resistance group and he hardly got to hear his own thoughts amidst the voices of everyone else around him. You would be surprised how much you start to value the time to sit down and think a bit once you become a leader and start to get crushed by the weight of all the responsibilities that come along with the job.

He uttered a small sigh when he thought back about his plans two weeks ago. When everything had seemed so simple. Back then, he had just wanted to rescue Inori and the rest from the void realm and be done with it. He hated to admit his naivety but he had actually believed that it would end with that. That he could start to have a happy future now. He should have known better.

Now, another cut-off arm and stolen void genome later, he found himself in almost the same situation as he was 5 years ago. Only slightly worse this time. For he didn't only have to fight Gai and Mana again, he would also have to deal with a horde of savages with voids and the SDF on top of that. The U.N. surely wouldn't bother to stick their nose into this matter again, seeing as to how much they screwed up last time. Finding other allies also proved to be difficult when half the nation thought of Shu and the gang to be the bad guys.

He didn't even know how it had come to this. He had been out cold for at least 3 days after he had fallen into Yuu's trap. The others had told him they couldn't even have brought him home because they had spotted suspicious looking vans parked in front of every spot they could have gone to in order to look for a place to hide. Shu's home, his friend's homes, the apartments of their acquaintances…every place had already been under surveillance. Hospitals and police stations, too. There had been no doubt about the fact that it must have been the same secret service people who had already ambushed them at Tennozu and whoever these guys were, they were the real deal.

With the enemy holding every place they could have possibly returned to, Shu's friends had had little choice but to bring him to the one place the mysterious enemy couldn't have possibly known of. One of the old Undertaker hideouts which had been abandoned for 5 years. It had been kind of a gamble since Shu's friends couldn't possibly have known if it had still been safe even after all this time, seeing as anyone could have found it by now. But luckily for them, it turned out the only thing that had ever found this place was a huge layer of dust.

Inori had told him that he had been in a very bad condition back then and everyone had been worried since he had lost consciousness during the time they were looking for a place to stay. So they had been quick to clean the first room with a bed they could find for him and let Hare do her thing afterwards. According to what he was told, Hare worked until she, too, would pass out from exhaustion. And every time that happened, Inori would switch places with her and use some kind of trick to transmit her energy through crystals to Shu so that his body would recover faster. When Inori would pass out, Hare would usually be back up again, so they pretty much had worked in shifts to keep him alive. That was something he still felt very bad about, yet was also very thankful for.

It had taken both girls three days to restore the near-dead Shu to a non-critical state. During that time, he would always wake up for a couple of seconds and use the chance to release the people still stuck in his void followed by passing out again. Of course, he didn't remember ever doing that, but when he had woken up from his unconsciousness, the people in his arm were already gone, so he had little reason to doubt that this had been the way things had been during his mental absence.

No one knew what had actually happened to most of the people he had released during these days. There was no doubt that most of them had used the chance to escape Tokyo while they still had had the chance. Before the military had been able to erect a barrier around Tokyo. Sadly, it hadn't been enough time for ALL of them to make it out timely, which had led to quite a reasonable amount of them being stuck in Japan's now quarantined capital. Whoever hadn't made it out in time had then decided that it was best to stay with their king and queen who surely would aid them again somehow. Some of them had even stayed voluntarily because they couldn't just simply leave their leaders hanging after realizing that they could use every help they could get. Looking back at it now, that must have been the start of Undertaker's rebirth.

The following days had been a mess. While Shu had been busy recovering with Inori's and Hare's help, the world outside had already gone to shit. People had panicked ever since the apocalypse virus' sudden return on the first day of Shu's unconsciousness. There had been no doubt then, that Mana had been brought back into this world by Da'ath. The military had been quick to react and had sealed off Tokyo in only a couple of hours by making use of so called 'quarantine walls' which had been built back in the days of GHQ.

These walls were similar to the ones used on loop seven and had been part of a project funded by the U.N. to enable GHQ to quarantine any major city in Japan in case of another pandemic. But unlike the loop seven walls, which had been customized by GHQ without any involvement of the UN, the quarantine walls surrounding the cities were never meant to move. They were just massive, immobile walls which were hidden underground and could be erected in case of emergency. To keep everything out of the city locked out and everything inside locked in.

It had been a reasonable plan since major cities were always an ideal spot for disastrous illnesses to spread. However, ever since the virus was thought to be dealt with 5 years ago, people had thought the project had been a huge waste of money and time, since they had never come to use even once during GHQ's reign over Japan. Not in any city they were built in. The closest thing the citizens of Japan ever saw of them had been the slight variation used for the quarantine of loop seven, and people surely hadn't been thankful for those. So when the SDF had decided to use them for their intended purpose, people had naturally only panicked more, because they had feared another loop seven disaster. As a result riots had started to occur. And to make matters worse, Mananites had appeared in loop seven on the second day of Shu's unconsciousness, driving the city into further chaos.

The SDF which had already been busy with handling the after effects of the outbreak as well as the riots, had been caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of the crazy foot soldiers armed with void weaponry. They had acted like escaped convicts getting excited by the thought of finally attaining freedom they had longed for all these years of their imprisonment in the void realm. And like the frenzied berserkers they were, they had used their chance to seize loop seven and even a few additional parts from aligning sectors of the city before the military was able to stop their advance by erecting yet another barrier around the territory the Mananites had claimed.

By the third day of Shu's unconsciousness, things finally started to calm down more or less. The SDF had sort of managed to keep the raging Mananites in Loop seven at bay and hadn't hesitated to declare the rest of the city a safe place in order to reassure the safety of Tokyo's population. The riots had eventually stopped after the people had seen how the SDF had protected them from the Mananites as well as provided free vaccines and food for everyone. And by the time their saviors had eventually blamed Shu for the outbreak, they had little reason to doubt them. After all, what reason would they have had to lie?

Shu's friends had been busy during his recovery as well. While the SDF had had their hands full with handling the situation outside, they would start to establish a base of their own from inside their hideout. Tsugumi had called every single Ex-Undertaker who still lived in Tokyo and asked for their help. Most of them had even agreed to aid them yet again, though that hadn't meant all that much in all honesty.

The Undertakers had already been a largely diminished group back when they had been disbanded 5 years ago. It may have started as a huge resistance group under Gai, but had eventually faced a lot of casualties over the course of time. By the conclusion of the fight against GHQ, the Undertakers had already been reduced to merely a fifth of its original size. And since not all of the surviving members would decide to stay in Tokyo after the group's disbanding, the amount of people who were actually still available had been even smaller. Still, Tsugumi had hauled back every willing man and woman she could reach, figuring that every pair of hands helped in these dire times. Of course, she had also had the courtesy to bring Shu's stepmother to them before the SDF and the police would get a chance to get to her.

Yahiro, being the precautious man he was, had started to learn about all the traits of the evolved people as soon as they had spawned out of Shu's arm. There had been little doubt that would already be thinking about plans to make the most uses of them. Things had especially started to speed up after his reunion with his long lost brother. Having spent only little time on sentimentalities, the dutiful siblings had started to work together on a plan to deal with the situation, they had found themselves in, almost immediately.

Which had left Ayase with the unpleasant task of showing all the GenesisGenesis Shu had brought with him around the hideout. They all had been in need for rooms to stay in and a job to do while they had waited for Shu to finally recover. It had been quite a pain, considering how many they had been and how Shu would always spawn more of them during the first few days. The amount of refugees grew so much in such a short time, that she even started to worry if they all could actually fit into the hideout. But luckily no one else had been left in Shu's arm by the end of the third day, having caused Ayase to sigh in relief back then. If things would have had continued to go that way, with more and more people storming out of Shu's arm with no end, they would have started to run into trouble by day 5 at the latest.

Shu had finally come to at the end of the third day and continued to rest for additional 2 days before Hare would finally let him go. Needless to say that he had been quite shocked to learn that not only had he become a terrorist again, he also had already become part of a new resistance group by the time he finally left his room. The GenesisGenesis who had either decided to stay willingly or were simply stuck inside Tokyo alongside them, as well as the old comrades from the previous Funeral Parlor group had already started to do business with the coordination of Yahiro and Jun, who had assigned them missions while he himself had still remained in bed. Back then, he had allowed himself to assume for a second that they would actually be the leaders this time, but he had been horribly wrong, for both of them were quick to tell him that they had merely been the replacement during the time Shu had been unavailable.

Passing the responsibilities up to Shu and Inori, the couple could have done little but to step in again as king and queen, albeit rather reluctantly. Over the course of the next week, they had spent their time restocking their supplies of weapons, ammunition and other necessaries, as well as gathering information about everything around them. Which ultimately led to the point they were at now, about two weeks after the outbreak.

Honestly speaking, Shu was pretty sure they weren't ready for combat yet. They had plenty enemies and not nearly enough resources to fight them with. A distinctive lack of endlaves and other heavy weaponry constantly made him worry how he should tackle this whole conflict the best way. Unfortunately, he was running out of time. For he was certain Mana had made it back into this world and with her return, it was only a matter of time before the bells of the apocalypse would toll yet again. And though he, Inori and every other evolved individual they saved out of the void realm was proven to be immune to the apocalypse virus, that didn't mean the rest of the world was, too.


	2. Troubled Terrorists

**2\. Troubled Terrorists**

The king led the way to the garage, which was the place they stored every vehicle they had managed to get their hands on, obviously. That said, Shu was afraid the amount of vehicles they had managed to actually put in there was, frankly speaking, suboptimal. He had a few military SUVs, some armored trucks for transportation and only one Endlave. That's right. One. Most of these things were either stolen from the SDF or had been left behind back when Funeral Parlor abandoned this place. Hardly surprising, since most of the gear had probably been broken and no one had bothered to repair it. After all, no one ever expected to come back here and have a use for all that stuff again. Shu's gang had repaired everything that could be repaired and thrown out everything that was beyond hope. Which, sadly, was most of the stuff they had found.

However, the reason they were on their way to the garage wasn't to inspect their humble amount of vehicles, but rather because it was the place they suspected Yahiro to be in. Their old friend was busy organizing and assigning missions to the Undertakers now. A task that suited the ex-drug dealer quite well. Shu was actually quite thankful for the help, since he was busy enough as it was. It was also kind of funny how Yahiro ended up handling missions, while his little brother ended up taking care of assigning jobs within the base, such as maintenance, kitchen duty, work schedules with day and nightshifts and so on. And since both of them were capable enough, Shu hardly had to check on them and meddle with their decisions, which was good, since he was fairly certain the two siblings knew more about that stuff than he did anyway.

When he and Inori finally reached their destination, they were pleased to actually find Yahiro where they thought they would find him. In a huge base such as theirs, people often tended to not be where you would expect them to be. Luckily for them, this wasn't the case this time. They saw him standing in front of two newbie-Undertakers, who apparently had messed up big time, since Yahiro wasn't going easy on them. Being known for being a 'merciless son-of-a-bitch', as people liked to dub him, this was actually not a rare sight, especially when dealing with newcomers with hardly any experience. The brown haired man was rather strict and never forgave even the smallest mistakes. However, despite his strictness, people still acknowledged him since his missions were always thought out well and the members assigned to them usually tended to be the right people for the job.

That's of course when he wasn't dealing with amateurs such as the ones in front of him.

"I gave you one job. One. And you couldn't even do that properly. That's why I told Shu we shouldn't take anyone, even if we were short-handed." Yahiro said to them with a scowl. His voice was calm, but his eyes clearly shot daggers at the two men in front of him.

"We are really sorry, sir. Please give us another chance!" the newbies begged in unison. One of them was rather thin, had brownish hair and a rather child-like face, while the other one was a little bulkier, with black hair and a round face. They slightly reminded Yahiro of Laurel and Hardy, though unlike the classic comedians, he was absolutely positive that these two were genuinely stupid rather than just acting that way.

"Another chance? I should actually send you guys to my brother and let him force you to peel potatoes or scrub the toilets until your arms fall off, but I am not even sure if you would even manage _that_ …" he said coldly. They glared at him in a mixture of hatred and terror. And Yahiro didn't even give the slightest fuck.

"Man, you really ARE an asshole, aren't you?" 'Hardy', the slightly bulkier one, found the courage to speak up to him, only to find himself regretting it immediately when he saw the look on the man before him.

"Excuse me?" He merely replied in a calm voice, yet his face clearly said: "Another word and you will actually beg for the toilet-cleaning job." The two men backed off slightly.

"What's going on here, Yahiro?" Shu asked his friend once he and Inori finally found his way next to him.

"Nothing, really. Just that these two morons are trying my patience. You should really think about kicking them out. I would actually suggest shooting them." Shu knew Yahiro was merely joking around, but the two greenhorns in front of him weren't so sure, hence they started to panic.

"Come on, man! I admit we screwed up slightly, but surely there is no need for that?"

Shu sighed at them and asked calmly: "What was their job?"

"Information gathering. You would figure with a job as easy as that, they would actually be able to pull it off, but noooo..." Yahiro grumbled as he held his forehead with his right hand and shook his head as if in pain from all this disappointment.

They saw Inori tilting her head slightly. "How does one fail such a mission?" A legitimate question, Shu thought, as he couldn't picture a task simpler than that. You simply had to stay hidden and watch the enemy. You weren't even required to fight. Just sit and watch. Maybe ask around a bit, if you were certain it wouldn't blow your cover. Anyone should be able to at least do that much.

Yahiro grinned at the question. "Exactly what I said to these clowns ten minutes ago." He folded his arms in front of his chest while looking at the rookies and nudging his head into Shu's and Inori's direction. "Go on. Tell them what you did."

"Well, we were to go to the border of loop seven and check out the strength of the SDF guarding the barrier. To find possible weak spots we could use to enter the area, you know?" The first of the two rookies started explaining. Shu and Inori listened carefully and Shu gave him a nod, signaling him to go on.

"We were doing the job just fine, checking everything out, when all of a sudden the void-freaks from loop seven attacked the SDF. The next thing you knew, the SDF had all their hands full with pushing them back." The other one continued the story.

"I see…so…what happened?" Shu urged them to continue.

The two young men, barely any older than Shu was, suddenly started to grin mischievously as they continued to give their report.

"Well, it so happened that there was an explosion and the driver of a military truck was knocked unconscious. We waited for a bit and watched from a distance, but no one noticed that the guy was out cold, since everyone had their hands full with fighting the weirdos back. So there was that unattended military truck and the guy carrying its keys just lying there. It was literally just standing there for us to grab it…and so we did."

Once they heard this, the king, his queen and their close friend couldn't hide their frustration anymore. Yahiro face palmed heavily, Shu sighed and even Inori closed her eyes and shook her head disapprovingly.

"W-what? I know we weren't ordered to take it, but it was our chance! I mean, come on! A giant military truck, which could have been filled with lots of cool stuff! Possibly even endlaves! We had to risk it."

Shu just blinked at them in surprise. "You didn't even check what was in there before you stole it?"

The greenhorns shrugged and shook their heads. "There was no time. We just took it and drove the hell out of there before anyone could have noticed. We were actually quite fortunate with the timing of the attack."

Shu just frowned and turned to Yahiro. "Were they followed?"

"No, or else I would have killed these morons with my bare hands already…the truck also doesn't seem to be tracked by anyone. At least I didn't find anything that would indicate so, but you never know with its cargo…"

"Speaking of which, what was in it?"

"Oh, you guys are gonna like this one…" Yahiro replied sarcastically while rolling his eyes. Following him behind the truck, he ordered the two rookies to open the rear door in order to reveal the 'precious' cargo they managed to steal from the SDF. As the door slowly slid open, Shu couldn't help but ask:

"It isn't empty, is it?"

"No, but it might as well have been…"

The king was slightly confused by that answer, only to understand completely when the door was finally opened. What greeted them was the sight of seemingly endless crates filled with vaccines against the apocalypse virus.

"Urgh…of all the things it could have been…" Shu sighed in utter disappointment.

"Remember when we killed for these things back in loop seven? It's almost funny to get them shoved into your face now when you have no need for them, huh?" Yahiro managed to say with a bitter smile on his face.

"You know…" This time it was brown haired rookie's turn to speak up. "I was already confused about Yahiro's reaction when we first showed this to him, but now even Shu calls it useless…Did I miss something? Aren't vaccines good? They prevent the virus from killing people, don't they?"

"Normally that would be the case, but, you see, we don't need them." Shu quietly explained with a sigh, still looking at the vaccines in disbelief.

"Why not? I get that you and the other guys you brought back can't get infected anymore, but what about the rest? They could still use this, don't they?"

"That's not what I meant…think about it. This resistance group exists for 2 weeks already, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, so?"

This time, Yahiro answered, slightly annoyed. "So? He told you to think, genius. Have you SEEN anyone here receiving their share of the vaccine?"

"Well, no…"

"After one week without receiving vaccination, there should definitely already be signs of people being in stage I of the infection. After two weeks, some should actually start going into stage II, yet no one falls into that category. Doesn't that occur as strange to you?" Shu continued Yahiro's explanation.

"Come to think of it, I haven't taken a shot in quite a while either…it certainly is weird. Maybe we aren't infected?" Both of the greenhorns looked at each other in wonder.

"You are." Inori suddenly said, which startled them a little. "Everyone in Tokyo is."

"Huh, how do you know?"

The pink haired woman glanced over to Shu for a moment, and, once receiving an encouraging nod from him, proceeded to walk over the skinnier one of them and taking his left hand slowly.

"Don't freak out. Nothing serious will happen to you." She assured him calmly.

Before the man could actually show his confusion to her, he was horrified to learn that slowly, out of nowhere, small crystal clumps started to appear on his hand and arm. What made matters worse was that they started growing without signs of stopping, so needless to say, the man started screaming in panic. And since he realized that Inori must have had something to do with this sudden development, the newbie didn't show any hesitation to try freeing himself out of her grip on his hand, which happened to be stronger than one might expect from a rather frail looking girl like Inori.

"What the hell are you doing? Let go of me, you freak!" Out of panic and desperation, he raised his free hand to form a fist so he could hit Inori away, only to let said fist get caught by Shu, who didn't look all that amused, but still managed to act calm about this.

"Easy there. Didn't she tell you it will be alright?" He told him patiently. The man's fist shook heavily as he tried to get it out of Shu's grip, but found himself hopelessly restrained by him and Inori.

"The hell are you talking about? She's killing me! Can't you see?" He yelled in panic. He must have thought his leaders had gone nuts for doing this to him. Even more so when he saw a smirk appearing on Shu's lips.

"Is that so? You look fine to me."

"Are you out of your mind? Just look at my-" The panicked man wanted to protest by showing off his infected arm, but to his surprise, it was completely fine. Every sign of the apocalypse virus was gone. He hadn't even noticed the infection had stopped spreading because of the king's distraction with his other hand. "What the…?"

Eventually, the man realized the danger was over, which caused him to finally calm down again. Obviously still confused, he just looked at the king and his queen, as they silently let go of him. The other guy had watched this whole scene with a similar expression of bewilderment.

"Inori can control the effects of the apocalypse virus to a certain extend. She causes the virus to remain dormant as long as you are around her. Everyone in the hideout is safe as long as she is there as well." Shu explained to them, slightly amused by their dumbfounded expression.

"Eh? Are you serious?" Said the skinnier one, who had been used as a demonstration object just now. His friend next to him couldn't help but wonder:

"Wait, so what's when we leave the hideout every time we go on a mission?" He wanted to know.

"It's fine." Inori replied. "The virus will awaken once you leave, but as soon as you return, it will go back to its dormant state and you return to stage 0 as long as you haven't hit stage III yet."

If you thought about it, it didn't really come as a big surprise. Inori could control crystals and the apocalypse virus caused crystallization. If she simply prevented crystals to sprout around her, no one would suffer any damage. That was, until the crystals would start merging with human flesh, which started to happen at stage III. If she were to reverse the crystal growth at that stage, when part of people's bodies had already been replaced by solid crystals, it would kill the person instantly. They would look like they had been hit by a frag-grenade with part of their bodies blown away. It was the same reason the vaccine became useless after stage III. Nothing could be done at that point.

The two newbies looked at Inori with big eyes of disbelief. They took a glance at Shu, who only confirmed what Inori just said with a small nod, followed by returning their attention back at the pink haired vocalist.

"Unbelievable. Inori is a saint! So awesome!" They suddenly beamed at her, which caught her by surprise. She would have expected a more shocked or even scared reaction out of them. After all, it wasn't a normal ability to behold. But although she didn't quite understand these guys, she thought it was a nice reaction. It even made her smile a little.

"I am not even surprised you two geniuses didn't know that already even though these two told everyone the very same thing at the huge assembly last week." The brunette ex-dealer grumbled while he pointed at his friends when he referred to 'these two'. "Even if you only joined after that, you should still be able to catch such vital information from the people around you. Since you obviously can't even do that, I wonder why I even thought you could do something as basic as information gathering. You learned nothing and only brought home useless crap at the risk of leading the enemy right in front of our door. I might have forgiven you if you at least had attempted to give me a call beforehand in order to report the situation to me, but you obviously even failed to show that much decency…" He mercilessly continued to criticize the two rookies in front of him. As if that hadn't been harsh enough he rounded it all up with:

"You guys are completely incompetent. Don't ever show your faces around me again. If you want to do work, go ask my brother. Maybe he can spare some nerves for you." That, accompanied by an ice-cold stare, successfully crushed the last bit of confidence these two men might have managed to keep until now. Their gazes dropped slowly towards the floor and their shoulders sunk in a depressed manner.

Somehow this whole scene reminded Shu of a school scene, where two kids wanted to join a sports team and the coach simply put them on the bench because he knew they would just fuck up everything anyway. As amusing as this comparison might have been, Shu couldn't help but feel bad for these guys.

Yeah, they had fucked up, and yeah, they probably haven't been the sharpest tools in the shed from the very beginning, but they at least really had the will to be a part of this whole resistance and somehow you had to respect that.

Even though Shu hated to admit it, it had become a sad fact that they had started living in a time again, in which the media would refer to him and his friends as terrorists. Half Japan thought ill of him and the gang, yet these two hadn't believed these lies for a second. They believed in him, had even come here in order to fight for him, so maybe he owed them at least a second chance.

With a sigh the king turned to Yahiro.

"Don't give up on them, yet. How about I send them over to somebody who can train them to be better?" The faces of the two rookies lit up immediately after they had heard that.

"That's gonna be a waste of time, Shu." Yahiro tried to protest.

"Maybe. But just take another look at them once they complete their special training and if they still suck, you can kick them out yourself. I don't care."

Shu grinned when he saw his friend give in with a sigh. "Your kindness is wasted on these guys, but go ahead. Though I won't go easy on them next time either. One more fuck -up and they are out."

"Fair enough." The king agreed and turned to the two Undertakers who just barely dodged getting the boot. "Alright, follow me. I know just the right guy for you." The rookies nodded and let Shu lead the way. Before the king left, however, he turned back to Yahiro.

"There is a meeting at 19:00. Please attend. Tell Jun as well if you see him, okay?"

"I will be there with him." Was all the brunette man replied in a frustrated manner. He didn't even bother turning around to Shu. Instead, he just looked at the vaccine crates in the truck disbelievingly. As the king left with everyone else, he was sure to hear his friend growl an annoyed: "Argh, what the hell am I supposed to do with this crap now?"

Leaving the stressed man behind to figure the problem out for himself, the royal leaders and their two temporary companions travelled through the hallways of the underground hideout towards their next destination. Their way led them to the armory, which, much to Shu's displeasure, suffered the same fate as the garage did. They actually had weapons and ammunition for it, but it was far from plenty and didn't leave much room for mindless usage. When asked for advice, Inori had told him that the amount they had stored there would have probably been enough if everyone in the resistance was professional enough to know how to shoot and how to conserve ammo, but the sad truth was, that a huge amount of their resistance consisted of novices. And there was only so much training you could do in two weeks…it just wasn't enough.

Anyway, the armory came with a firing range, and though ammo was limited, his friends had convinced him that every shot taken there, would save them two in the actual fight. Since he couldn't argue against that, he let the veteran Undertakers train the novice ones there, as well as refresh their own skills from time to time.

Thanks to that, no one was surprised to hear gunshots all around the large room that served as a firing range. People were trying out all sorts of firearms at targets placed in the distance. Shu grimaced involuntary as he remembered the time he had had his own go at these back when he had been in training. Though he had managed to hit a couple of targets in close to mid-range, his 'skill' had been nothing compared to anyone else's, let alone Inori's. He would like to think he had improved since then, but who was he kidding? Anyone from the original Funeral Parlor could have still wiped he floor with him when it came to guns. Somehow this made him feel utterly lame.

"Is something wrong, Shu?" Asked the pink haired vocalist next to him as soon as she noticed him frowning subconsciously. Once he noticed he had been doing that, he started to smile nervously and tried to wave the matter off.

"What? Oh, no. It's nothing."

"…If you say so…" Though not convinced, she decided to drop the subject.

The group spotted Ayase supervising a group of rookies with a rather bored expression. Her head rested on her right hand as she sat behind a nervous girl, who could barely hold her pistol right from all the shaking she did.

With narrowed eyes and a voice, which clearly stated her annoyance, she finally asked: "You sure you are up for this, lady?"

"Yes, I can do this!" came the girl's reply. Ayase only sighed.

"Take your time…" From the corner of her eye, she saw another guy hold his weapon sideways as he shot, casually showing off to his friends. She was quick to roll over to him and smack the back of his head with a rolled-up magazine. "Cut the gangsta crap, idiot. How old are you? 12? Hold the gun properly!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" The culprit in question immediately straightened up his posture and proceeded to hold the firearm in his hand like previously taught. Ayase smirked proudly.

"See? That's _muuuch_ better now."

"Ugh…why do I even need to learn how to use these things, when I could simply use my void? It's stronger than this crap and the accuracy is better as well…this is bullshit." He complained right afterwards with a sour look on his face. His brunette instructor was about to give him another piece of her mind, when Shu suddenly butted in.

"Voids can be extremely powerful, yet are always one's biggest weakness." He told him as he casually approached with Inori and his two momentarily companions.

"M-my king! And the queen as well!" The foul-mouthed soldier immediately tried to be respectful by giving a quick bow, but got quickly excused with a small discarding wave by Shu's hand, as well as a slow shaking of his head.

"Inori and I are well aware that most of your voids are well superior to simple firearms, but bear in mind that this isn't the void realm anymore. From now on there won't be any second chances once you die. And since voids themselves are fragile and break easily, it's better to have an alternative weapon available to use when you deem drawing your void would be too much of a risk. It's also handy for void-users, whose void is a melee or support-type, so they get an option to attack from a safe distance." The king explained patiently. His queen decided to add something as well.

"Besides, we won't force you to use firearms in actual combat. So if you REALLY are reluctant about the use of conventional firearms, you can still solely rely on your void." Shu nodded approvingly once she had finished talking.

"I understand. I will treat this as a valuable experience then." The soldier's voice sounded somewhat regretting. He probably felt stupid for not realizing earlier that there was no harm done in him learning something new, even if he would end up not actually needing it. Without further hesitation, the void-user gave his leaders a silent bow, before returning his attention back to the small gun he still held in his hand. Everyone just watched as the man resumed his training in full concentration and where a bit shocked to see him suddenly emptying his whole magazine in one go.

Ayase was about to rip his head off in frustration, thinking the guy might have went overboard with his resolve, but when she inspected the piece of plywood that served as the target, her original disdain soon changed into astonishment.

"25 of 30 shots hit the target. 20 would have been deadly. This guy isn't even half bad." She mumbled in quiet surprise as she put her right hand to her chin.

"I am sorry for not taking the training serious before."

"You should be! You wasted your time when you could have even improved more." She scolded him angrily. "Go and get a higher caliber weapon and try again. You have to make up for the time you wasted." Her hand pointed towards the door leading to the armory, where the rest of the weapons were obviously stored. The soldier saluted nervously and went on his way to do as he was told.

"Honestly, that guy…" She sighed as she watched him leave. She then turned to Shu and the rest. "Evening, Shu, Inori. Who are the two guys behind you, who look like their precious goldfish just died?" She greeted them with a smile.

The king merely returned the smile. "Yahiro's latest victims. He wants them out and I decided to give them at least one more chance." He wasn't surprised to see the brunette girl's smile turn into a frown.

"I don't know, Shu. Yahiro can be a merciless prick, but his instincts regarding a person's skills are usually quite spot on."

"That's true, but I know these guys only meant well, so I thought maybe you could give them a go?" He only received a sigh from her.

"This is so troublesome. You know, we actually had application tests for new Undertakers back in the days…"

"So I've heard, but who would have the time to set them up and evaluate them? All we could do in our present state would be a written exam and we all know how useless these would be." A soft chuckle escaped the king's lips.

"Well, I suppose it's true. And to be honest, for a resistance group formed out of the blue, we came pretty far in just two weeks. That's probably due to you. Most of these newbies come to see and fight with the guy who took down GHQ 5 years ago after all." Ayase gave Shu a playful smirk and a couple of pokes from her elbow. "Quite the celebrity you are around here, eh?"

The brunette man in front of her couldn't hide a blush and averted his gaze quickly in shame. "Ridiculous. Most of the guys came because they knew it was Funeral Parlor who brought down GHQ, not because of me." He quickly said, followed by smirking right back at the young woman in the wheelchair as he went over to the offensive.

"Besides, I hear that you aren't quite unpopular around the newcomers either, seeing as you are the best endlave pilot the Undertakers ever had. Tsugumi told me there were quite some handsome male admirers among them. I am happy for you."

"I-idiot! Who would care about those stupid, weak wannabe-Undertakers!" She quickly grabbed his coat and shook him violently while she yelled at him. Shu stumbled backwards a bit after Ayase pushed him away in an annoyed way. He didn't mind, though, since he still got to see her embarrassed face. A grin formed on his face as he enjoyed his small moment of victory.

"They also didn't exactly join because of me. Since everyone in Funeral Parlor had kept their identities secret, they only found out about me after they had joined and talked to old Undertakers." She added as she looked away to hide her slightly pink cheeks.

The king had known this of course. The official statement five years ago had been that the U.N. forces had taken down GHQ together with the help of him. His name was the only one mentioned, since there had been no way for him to stay out of it after having taken the big role of purging the world of the apocalypse virus. Funeral Parlor, however, while getting mentioned as a helping force, never made a public appearance. They just up and disappeared off the surface of the world, without even a single word. In fact, they never even officially stated that they had been disbanded all these years ago in the first place. People only assumed it based on rumors which started to spread after things had gotten quiet about the terrorist group all of a sudden.

Therefore, the identities of the members had remained a mystery. Tsugumi had erased all data she had managed to get her hands on if they were even slightly related to any Undertaker. And with that, everyone had left their terrorist days behind and started into their new lives with a clean cut. Shu had even denied any connections to the Undertakers to make sure none of his friends could be identified as a former terrorist, which only made it all the more curious how the SDF actually managed to tie Ayase and Tsugumi to Funeral Parlor.

Was it a wild and lucky guess? That could have explained why the SFD also lumped Yahiro into the group, who hasn't previously been a member of the Undertakers. Or could it be that Da'ath actually gave them this information? Shu frowned as he realized that this scenario was far more likely. After all, this whole terrorist thing he got framed into really looked like it had been part of Yuu's set-up all along.

"Anyway, I am sorry, Shu, but I really got my hands full with the newbies at the moment. Why don't you try Argo?" Ayase eventually decided to continue the conversation after Shu had remained silent for a little too long. He was quick to snap out of it once he heard her talk again, though. He shook his head briefly and gave her an apologetic smile in return

"Oh, sorry for spacing out, Ayase. Yeah, no worries, I originally had Argo in mind for the job anyway." The brunette endlave pilot in front of him couldn't hide the worry in her eyes as she noticed how tired he actually looked.

"Are you okay, Shu? Maybe you should rest up a bit? I could take those two to Argo for you." She kindly offered.

"What? No, I am completely fine. There is just a lot on my mind lately, that's all." The king told her with an awkward laugh. He made a mental note to stop spacing out in front of people. It happened a lot lately, and he wouldn't want to worry everyone.

"Besides, you are plenty busy yourself. I won't cause you more trouble by assigning you work I can very well do myself." He added with a kind smile.

"If you say so…just take care of yourself, okay? Argo is further ahead in the gym if you want to look for him." Ayase explained while pointing behind her back with her thumb. "I have no idea what the hell he is doing with the guys he trains, but they keep getting sent to the infirmary quite frequently. I am not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, honestly…"

"That sounds like quite some intense training, huh?" Shu used the opportunity to give the two rookies behind him a teasing grin. "Hope you are up for it, guys." The two men couldn't help but share nervous looks and a very audible gulp, yet said nothing in response.

"Well, at least they ain't quitters, I guess." Ayase shrugged and sighed at their display of raw courage. "Still, we even managed to make you into a soldier, Shu. I say if we managed to achieve that, we should be able to form those two into somewhat respectable warriors as well." The mischievous smirk she was offering him was countered by one of his own.

"If they end up beating you in a simulated endlave figh, too, I will be very pleased."

"You wish. I would turn them into swiss-cheese."

"I bet Yahiro wouldn't mind that." They both laughed when they saw the horror-stricken faces of the two newbies tagging along with the king.

"They are kidding, right?" The thin, brown haired rookie managed to nervously ask Inori, who was silently listening in on the conversation.

"Of course they are." She answered calmly. Much to the relief of the two men, who allowed themselves to utter a sigh and a thankful prayer to god. That's when the pink haired vocalist added:

"If you get hit by an endlave bullet more than once, there wouldn't even be enough of you left to identify you. There is no way you would end up looking like swiss-cheese." She stated in a matter-of-factly

They just looked at her as if they had seen a ghost. While the brown haired fellow appeared to be close to fainting, the other one was about to turn around and leave while saying: "…You know…kitchen work suddenly sounds a lot less bad now that I think about it…"

"Actually…" The brown haired king said while he was putting his right hand on the man's shoulder to turn him around again. "I think I will take you two to Argo now before our jokes end up scaring you away for good." With a playful grin he told both of them to follow him, before turning back to Ayase again.

"I'll be going then. Thanks for the good work over here, and don't forget the meeting I told you about at lunch, okay?"

"Aye, aye, sir." The endlave pilot replied jokingly and even gave the king a mocking salute, to which Shu only replied with a soft chuckle and a shake of the head. And with that, the small group continued on their way to the gym.

Well, to call it a 'way' might have been a bit of an overstatement, seeing as it was literally just next to the firing range and armory, separated by only a thin wall and a little door to keep the noise of the guns out. You actually couldn't call it a gym, either, seeing as there was next to no equipment present and most of the actual 'training' consisted of hand-to-hand combat, stamina training and some basic exercises to build up some muscle, like push- and sit-ups. All the more reason for Shu to wonder what the actual heck Argo was doing in here to send people into the infirmary all the time, like Ayase accused him to.

As they entered the huge room filled with training soldiers, they realized that Ayase's accusations didn't seem to be baseless after all. For no one else but Hare and a couple of her medics were already present. Shu saw one of her medics tend to a man whose fingers appeared to be broken, while another one was treating a nasty looking stab wound. He also spotted a lot of dried blood all around the spacious floor and started to wonder if they had slaughtered a pig around here or something. There were also a few small craters to be seen here and there, as if cars had crashed into concrete walls. And the group certainly didn't see any cars around.

"That's a lot of blood and destruction for a place in which people are supposed to be merely training, Shu." Inori stated her worries, to which he could only agree with a nod. This place was a mess.

"Let's see what's going on here, shall we?"

Making their way over to Hare and Argo, they couldn't help but overhear some of their conversation. Apparently, Hare was more than just unpleased with whatever it was Agro actually did here.

"This is no joke, Argo. You are creating patients here faster than we can heal them! Just because we got voids capable of healing doesn't mean you can turn this into a semi-battlefield." She scolded him with both her hands on her hips. The taller man just stood in front of her with folded arms and replied calmly:

"And I keep telling you, that it can't be helped. The evolved guys are insanely strong and apparently aren't used to their ridiculous strength. One of these guys was having a sparring match against another guy and missed a punch at him. He hit the wall instead and tore a small hole into it with his bare fist. You heard right. A fucking hole. And all he got was a few bruises from that. Seriously, that's not even funny anymore. These guys are monsters."

"They aren't, they are just different. If sparring causes so much trouble, I suggest you stick to less dangerous training methods only."

"I tried that, too. See that guy over there?" He pointed at an athletic looking, young man, who was busy running around the large room with a couple of other guys, apparently doing some stamina training.

"He's been at it for 6 hours straight now. And he barely broke a sweat. Look at him, he could probably go on for another two hours. Even I get tired and need a break after 4. And I rarely even push myself that far. I can't let them all run in circles all day, if they can't get tired from that. They will get bored senseless. That guy is just doing it because he is curious about his limits. He ain't doing it because he thinks he needs better stamina."

"Hey, guys. What's the problem here?" Shu and Inori finally reached them and decided to join in on the conversation.

"Good evening, Shu. We aren't too late for the meeting, are we?" Argo wondered to which Shu just shook his head after he checked the time via his mobile.

"Nah, we still got about forty minutes until it starts. So tell me, what's going on here?" Hare sighed tiredly in response and also massaged her forehead in a frustrated manner.

"This military friend of yours is causing me a lot of work, Shu. I've been busy patching up his trainees all day with the help of my medic team. Or what remained of it at leasz. A lot of my former team left Tokyo the first chance they got. Lucky them."

Of course, when she talked about Shu's 'military friend', she was referring to Argo, who she only got to know recently. About one week after the outbreak, shortly after Tsugumi had called all available former Undertakers back, Argo, who had been a part of the newly founded SDF, hadn't hesitated to contact Tsugumi as soon as he had heard from her. Together with him and his insight of the SDF, they had managed to steal one of their Endlaves by making sure Argo and a couple of his trusted friends would get assigned into transportation duty with some help from Tsugumi's hacking skills. He and his buddies then had made sure to get on a truck carrying an Endlave, weapons and ammunition, and told Tsugumi the exact route they would take to transport it. The rest ended up to be fairly easy as Shu only had to feign an ambush in which he would 'capture' the convoy and make Argo and his friends his 'hostages'.

Of course that had been nothing more than a mere act. To the SDF it had looked like their soldiers had been forced to comply or face death. In reality, they had willingly driven the convoy safely into the Undertaker hideout, with the general of the SDF none the wiser. By doing things this way, Argo and his friends were ensured to look like mere victims and could possibly return to the SDF once this whole ordeal was over. All while also being able to help their old friends in Funeral Parlor. Especially since none of them had believed Shu was responsible for the outbreak for even a second. And that's how he got here.

His arrival, however, though being a blessing for the Undertakers as a whole for bringing them valuable supplies and even an Endlave unit, had been nothing short of a pain for Hare. For you see, she and Argo didn't get along quite well for various reasons. In fact, not many evolved people did.

That was because Argo was one of the highest respected members of the original Funeral Parlor for being one of the few people who actually took part in the infiltration mission to prevent the third apocalypse. He quickly became some sort of hero and faction leader for the non-evolved portion of the new Undertakers. While that in itself didn't sound so bad, it quickly became obvious that the humans, veterans and rookies alike, didn't think all too well of the Genesis brought back from the void realm by Shu and Inori. The reasons for that ranged from jealousy to fear. After all, no matter how much the Genesis looked and sounded like them. At the end of the day, they were still faster, stronger and smarter than them. Not to mention that they also had voids at their disposal.

As one would think, the sole fact that the terrorist group had divided themselves into factions already spoke volumes about its companionship. And even though Shu and Inori tried very hard to keep segregation to a minimum, it has still become clear as day that there was some serious tension going on between Genesis and humans.

Now, that alone wouldn't have been enough for someone like Hare to not get along with someone. As a person with a big and kind heart, she naturally stood over such petty conflicts and had tried her best to get along with everybody despite the circumstances. However, even the kindness of the brunette medic had its limits when humans took them and their voids for granted and started to work them to the bone.

For it was to the understanding of the humans that when the Genesis got to be better than them physically and mentally, that they should also make use of that additional strength. And while the basic idea that stronger people should be able to do more work than weaker people was correct in theory, most of the time, the humans simply failed to understand that there were still limits to an evolved person, no matter if they were generally better than the normal folk. Especially when it came down to the usage of one's void.

What normal people saw, was that an evolved person got access to a void which ended up letting them do work easier. To them, it seems as if someone just had to swing that mystical object around like a mere gadget and let it do all the work instead of the user. In truth, the usage of voids was far from that simple, though.

Whenever a person used a void, the void would drain a bit of the user's stamina. The amount used for each use was very small, but if one was to keep using his or her void for a long period of time without a break, even those small drains would add up and wear the user out.

That was basically Hare and her team's problem right now. Argo and the humans had probably made them heal injured trainees over and over again for the whole day. They were most likely tired as hell and demanded Argo to take it easy with his training from now on, which the man himself probably didn't want to accept.

"That what happens when you let superhumans train with normal ones. The normal ones get broken rips when the evolved ones forget to restrain themselves and the Genesis get stabbing wounds when their human opponent forgets that this is only a training hall and tries to best them at all costs." Argo explained calmly.

"If that causes too many injuries, why not simply refrain from letting evolved fight non-evolved?" Inori wanted to know.

"Because the men and women training here WANT this. They are learning a lot from each other. Especially the humans. It makes sense to let them fight Genesis, seeing as to how we will most likely have to fight a lot of them in Loop Seven. They could use the experience." He explained to her.

"Fair enough, but isn't this sort of competition also encouraging both sides to become even more…'hostile' towards each other?" Shu asked after choosing his words carefully. Hare folded her arms firmly and further showed her approval by nodding at his words.

"Exactly. The tension between Genesis and humans has become even more noticeable during the last few days, all while the amount of injuries reported during Argo's training increased as well, alongside their severity. At times like these, it would be better to try and ease the conflict, rather than to pour more oil into the already strong-burning fire." This, in return, made Argo frown at her.

"Are you implying I am encouraging them to hate each other? That's quite an accusation there, Hare…"

The brunette girl immediately looked like she felt bad about her words for a second, yet stood her ground anyway. "Of course not, but the fact remains that you are respected by a lot of humans and thus should try to set an example by promoting teamwork, rather than rivalry."

"She has a point, you know." The king said while putting his right hand on Argo's shoulder in a supportive way. "I know it sucks, but people are looking up to you now. It would be better if it was you who told them to show a bit of restraint rather than me or Inori. If we told them to behave, they might think we are favoring the Genesis over them, seeing as we are Genesis ourselves. Instead, we will make sure to talk to them separately, so that there won't be any misunderstandings. You understand, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Argo said with a deep sigh. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and continued: "I think I finally understand what you were going on about, Shu. Being in a leadership position sure is a whole lot more demanding than standing at the receiving end. Wouldn't want to switch places with you for all the money in the world." The king merely laughed in return.

"That's too bad. I was about to offer the job to you, too." He looked over at Hare. "Maybe you would want to have a go at it? Beware, though, it comes with arm-loss and may cause acute blindness in rare instances."

The young woman in front of him flinched and was quick to wave both hands in front of her in refusal. "Me? Heck no, Shu. I think you are far more suitable for the job. Speaking of arm-loss, how is your arm feeling? Does it still hurt?" She asked him worryingly to which he only replied with a smile:

"No, it's all good now. Thanks again. I would have been a goner without you and Inori."

"That's good to hear. You made us worry quite a lot, you know." Hare told him with a relieved sigh. Inori nodded at that while the brown haired king could only give them an apologetic look in return.

"I am really sorry."

"By the way…" the unofficial leader of the human faction managed to retake the center of attention while clearing his throat. "Who are the two soldiers behind you and Inori?" He wanted to know.

Remembering the original reason he and Inori actually came here, the king merely turned around to the two screw-ups with a conflicted looking expression. "Oh, yeah…that. Come to think of it, I never asked them for their names…"

The two rookies gave them a clumsy salute, followed by introducing themselves. It turned out the thin, brown haired one was named Ryusei, while the bulkier one with black hair went with the name of Yuito. Two names Shu was sure he would forget during the next 5 minutes again, hence why he never bothered to ask them in the first place. Frankly speaking, his head was currently filled with far more important stuff and thus couldn't be bothered with remembering names. He doubted he would ever have to deal with those guys directly again anyway, so he thought it was okay. Statistically speaking, it was far more likely that they would either get kicked out after they screw up again, or simply die during battle before they would ever get the chance to meet him again in person. That was the sad truth.

"So I guess since you brought them here, I am to train them?" Shu merely nodded at Argo's question.

"Yeah. They are somewhat lacking and Yahiro wanted to kick them out. I thought they deserved at least one more chance with you. Think you are up for it?"

"That I am. Honestly speaking, they can't be as bad as you were when you first…"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Shu's annoyed voice caused both girls to softly giggle and even Argo allowed himself to grin at him, which left the king with no option but to sigh in defeat. He watched as Argo waved the newbies over. They both reluctantly complied.

"Well, I better get to work with these two. Today's training session is almost over, but that doesn't mean we can't get some basic training done. See ya guys later at the meeting." And with that, Argo jogged off with his two new recruits. Hare narrowed her eyes as they watched him go.

"He used them as an excuse to flee. I bet you he won't talk to the humans like we asked him to."

The royal couple looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"

Uttering a sigh, the medic proceeded to explain while slowly shaking her head. "It's simple. The majority of humans dislike Genesis. If Argo were to take a stand that differs too much from their opinion, he would lose a lot of their respect. Not to mention that he actually shares their opinion about us."

"You mean he fears us just like them? Did he tell you that?"The queen wanted to know.

"No, of course not. He tries to hide it, but after you talk with him for a while, it becomes obvious that he doesn't think too highly of us. I don't know if it's fear, jealousy or just distrust, but he clearly is wary of us. That's what I think."

"Are you sure you aren't just putting too much thought into this matter? Argo always was rather gloomy and hard to approach. Maybe you two just need some more time to warm up to each other?" Shu told her with an encouraging smile. The brunette girl only shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe. It could be that I am just too tired and thus am subconsciously starting to think these things about him because he is the cause of it." She admitted exhaustedly and took a seat on a nearby bench. "Seriously…I have been healing people nonstop for days now. I hope the situation calms down soon so that my team and I can catch a break."

For some reason, this caused Shu to smirk. Without saying a single word, he simply walked up behind her and slowly proceeded to give her stiff shoulders a relaxing massage, effectively catching the unsuspecting girl by surprise.

"S-Shu, w-w-what are you doing…?" she asked him with a slightly flustered face. The sudden contact of his hands with her shoulders certainly being the cause of her embarrassment.

"Shhh, just relax. I know what I am doing." He gently said. It almost felt like a whisper to her. That alone could have already made her melt into his arms. She was wondering if she was daydreaming or something, but soon decided that it didn't matter. Her embarrassment and tiredness were slowly cast away as she felt Shu kneading the stiffness out of her muscles.

"Where did you learn this…? It's amazing." She admitted honestly. The king only chuckled in return, never stopping his work.

"My mother is a workaholic and single. Who do you think ends up helping her relax after a long day's work? Plus, when I was still blind, I actually got a knack at finding out all the really stiff parts. As a result this level of stiffness is nothing to me. There, how's that?"

"Ah, right there. Don't stop!" Hare sighed in what seemed to be utter bliss.

"Stop? Me? You have seen nothing yet."

"Hnnnnng." The massage continued for a little while with Hare getting visibly more relaxed by the second. However, the king was shocked to find out his patient had actually ended up falling asleep only a few minutes into his treatment.

"Uh, Hare? No way, did she fall asleep?" He blinked in surprise as he looked down on his right hand. "I couldn't have been THAT good, right?" Sure, he had been quite confident about his skills, seeing as he had practiced on Haruka for many years now, but for them to be so…effective? Who would have thought…?

"She must have been very tired." Inori concluded as she watched Shu gently laying her down on the bench she had been resting on.

"I guess so." He made sure some of Hare's medics would watch over her while she slept and wake her in time for the meeting before he went back to Inori. "Let's go, then. There is still time until the meeting, meaning we can still get some work done.

He was about to lead the way when he noticed his queen wasn't following him. When he turned around in confusion, he was surprised to see her narrowing her eyes on him. No way, was she pouting?

"Uh, Inori? Is something wrong?" He chose to ask her directly.

She chose to ignore the question and replied with something else instead. "Hare sure looked happy…"

It only took the king a few seconds to understand what was going on here. With an understanding and slightly teasing smile, he concluded: "Inori, could it be that you wanted a massage as well?"

The pink haired vocalist, either out of pride or to hide her embarrassment, refused to answer the question and averted her gaze instead. Whatever the actual reason for that may have been, it only amused the king even further. In fact, her reaction was so entertaining, that he chose to playfully bow to her while saying:

"I will kindly remind my queen that this mere king of hers will do everything she asks of him. If it is a massage she is craving for, a massage she shall receive."

This, obviously caught her attention, as it was shown by her raised eyebrow. "Then, perhaps…" She started, still looking a bit embarrassed.

"Yes?"

Eventually, her downcast eyes found his again, only to show him a look full of determination. This wasn't what he had expected, in all honesty. His confusion grew even bigger when he heard her demand.

"Will you teach me how you did this?"

He blinked a couple of times, trying to process the asked question. Here he thought this was about her receiving the same treatment as Hare did moments prior, but she wanted to learn it, rather than to merely experience it? He couldn't help but wonder:

"Uh, sure, but…why?"

"Shu needs to relax, too." Was all she said, looking at least as serious as she sounded. The king perplexedly pointed his right index finger at himself as he asked her:

"You want to give me a massage? What about you? Don't you want one?" She merely shook her head ever so slightly.

"I am fine. You aren't. The way you made Hare look just now, so relaxed…I want you to look the same. So, will you teach me?" She explained and tilted her head once she asked him her question. The brunette man in front of her decided to take her in a small hug as a smile filled with both pride and happiness was slowly formed on his lips.

"Of course I will. And I will give you the massage anyway, even though you didn't ask for it." He added the last part with a smirk.

The queen looked like she was about to reply to that, however, instead of her mouth, her stomach decided to catch their attention by growling at them in a way it would have made a wolf run away in shame. She cutely put both her hands on it as if to make the sound less noticeable and even pressed her eyelids together in a frustrated manner.

Shu merely laughed heartedly once he had heard that. "I guess that can wait for later. Seems like we will have to satisfy more urgent needs than your thirst for knowledge. Now that I think about it, we haven't eaten in quite a while. I am actually hungry myself. Let's go grab a bite, shall we?"

His suggestion was met with an eager nod of his queen and so they left the gym and shooting range behind, found their way back into the various corridors of their hideout and headed straight for the refectory. The large room didn't shine in its aesthetic value, but it compensated for that with its large size, which allowed it to hold quite a large portion of the Undertakers at the same time.

Given the fact that it was already getting late in the evening, it didn't surprise the king and his queen to see the room filled by various people either eagerly eating their meals or waiting in line to finally receive theirs. The general mood appeared to be rather good, as they saw a lot of people talking and even laughing with each other. However, they both still didn't fail to notice how clearly the large room was divided into two groups.

On the left of it, they could spot a majority of Genesis sitting together, while the opposite was the case on the other side. Though there were mixed groups present as well, their amount measured next to nothing against the masses who apparently would rather stick with their own group.

Shu and Inori shared a troubled look, but decided that even though the situation looked rather unfavorable, they couldn't do much about it at the present time. So instead of worrying about it too much, they started to make their way between the sheer endless amount of tables and eventually lined up together with the other hungry men and women waiting for their food.

Once the people noticed it was them who were waiting in line with them, many started to offer them to cut the line to get their food faster, but the royal couple politely declined and, even though they felt like they were starving, chose to wait for their meal like everybody else.

"I wonder what's for dinner today. Hopefully something good." Shu found himself muttering, subconsciously voicing his thoughts.

Given the fact that Tokyo had already been in lockdown for two weeks, it wasn't surprising in any way that the variety of food had gone down a lot. As soon as the initial supplies of the city went dry, all that was left to eat were the rations provided by the SDF which came in 3 or 4 day intervals via air drop. And while it was very fortunate that the SDF did that, opposed to GHQ, who hadn't provided anything back in the days of loop seven, it was also clear as day that the quality of the food provided couldn't be considered to be high class. Since no one knew how long the situation could go on and the food was provided for free, no one could expect the government to drop more than the basic and cheapest ingredients for them. Well, at least they never held back with the amount they sent, so no one would notice if Shu's group stole a crate or two from them periodically. Still, you could bear to eat rice, beans and peas only for this much. The contents of the crates dropped by the military varied a bit from time to time, but ultimately, it was always just the same cheap crap.

"Don't be picky, Shu. Food is food." Inori lectured him, which only caused him to sigh at her.

"You know that's rich coming from you, who used to be the pickiest eater I have ever seen back when I struggled to make food for us 5 years ago. There were so many times when I had to make emergency runs to the convenience store to buy some instant ramen and onigiri because you wouldn't eat the stuff I prepared."

"Liar." Inori merely replied. "I always ate the food you gave me."

"Yeah, except for the times when you casually shoved the stuff into Funell when I wasn't looking, pretending to have eaten the stuff I gave you." Shu let out a soft chuckle as he remembered Inori's antics from before. The pink haired queen couldn't help but stare at him wide eyed.

"You saw that?"

"Aye, that's why I eventually ended up serving onigiri after every meal as some kind of backup plan in case you wouldn't eat the normal food. At least until I figured out which kinds of food you didn't like, so I could avoid preparing it.

She frowned embarrassedly and replied: "Stupid Shu. You could have just asked."

"True, but it was more fun that way. Getting to know you and all." He explained to her with a grin, to which she had to avert her eyes in defeat. As she was looking down, her embarrassment was conveniently hidden by a curtain of long, pink hair.

Their conversation came to an end when they finally reached the front of the line and thus finally got the chance to receive their food. However, once they saw who it actually was who was supposed to give them their meal, they couldn't help but stare at him confusedly.

"Welcome to McUndertakers, may I take your order…" Juan greeted them with a sour expression, a matching tone in his voice and also while he was gritting his teeth in utter annoyance. For some reason, he also wore a McDonald's uniform.

The king eventually chose to voice his obvious confusion. "The hell are you wearing that stuff for?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. The man next to Juan answered him. It was no one else but the same black haired guy Juan had a fight with only a couple hours prior, when they had observed the Mananites in loop seven.

"That shitbird Toshi ratted us out…we got into one little fight and the kid got all nervous, running to Jun to tell him what we did. The guy then ordered us to do kitchen work as punishment. The special kind, you see. With humiliating uniforms and all…" The bearded man explained. Shu could only sigh at them.

"Serves you right if you ask me. Why can't you guys just get along?"

"HE STARTED IT!" They both yelled at the same time and pointed towards the other. A sweat drop appeared on the back of the king's head. Did he mistakenly enter the elementary school cafeteria?

Inori for her part didn't seem to mind the two in any way. She merely placed her tray in front of her and demanded: "Food, please."

Shu wasn't sure if she couldn't be bothered to deal with the situation simply because she was hungry or rather because it was yet another one of these Juan-incidents, which kept occurring ever since day 1. The guy was notorious for always causing trouble in any possible way, which always earned him time-outs, such as these.

"Yeah, yeah. Here you go, my queen." He replied in a not-so-enthusiastic manner, followed by handing her a bowl of some kind of soup accompanied by a big serving of rice to go along with it. While she seemed okay with it, Shu just frowned once he saw the contents of her tray.

"Soup again? Come on, Juan. Don't we have ANYTHING else? The soup yesterday was little more than flavored water with a bit of potato in it." He groaned as he saw Juan giving him the same stuff he just gave Inori.

"Don't complain to me. I didn't cook it, I just distribute it." The foreigner explained to him.

"Besides…" His "McUndertaker's" partner chose to add. "Soup is easy to make, saves a lot of ingredients and keeps people fed. It may not taste good, but it serving its purpose."

"If its purpose is to stop making me want to eat it, then yeah, it's doing quite well." The king replied annoyingly at them and turned around to leave. Following Inori's example, it was probably better to leave those two behind and simply gulp down this sorry excuse for food somehow than to continue making a fuss about it. Especially since there were still a lot of people in line waiting for their "food".

"This sucks…" He voiced his frustration as he took his seat next to Inori on an empty table. "I know we had it worse in loop seven, but at least we didn't have to eat bread crumbs every day."

"More people died in loop seven back then, making the food last longer for the remaining survivors. This time is different, though." She answered while eating her food.

"Yeah…the SDF is keeping casualties to a minimum, but that also caused all the good food to be already gone. Even if there still is better food somewhere in Tokyo, I am sure it all got hidden away in someone's basement. All we got now is this stuff…" He eyed his meal with a disgusted expression and slowly pushed it away, not expressing any desire to eat it. "It's funny how the SDF tries to maintain the illusion that Tokyo is fine, yet would not drop more than the absolute basic stuff needed to survive."

While the king had been busy rambling, his queen had already gulped down the last bit of her soup, earning her an impressed look from him.

"You are amazing. I wish I could just close my eyes and eat this stuff like you. Want seconds?" He jokingly asked and pointed at his portion. He saw her flinch at the suggestion, followed by looking down at her empty bowl in what seemed to be despair.

"No…it's disgusting. I can't take any more than this." She shuddered.

"I wonder if it only tastes this bad because we evolved? None of the humans seem to mind it that much." He said as he looked around to observe the other Undertakers.

"Possibly." A new voice sounded next to them. They turned around to see Jun with his own tray of food standing next to them. "Mind if I join you?" He asked them with a kind smile.

"Not at all, have a seat with us."

Jun accepted the invitation with a quick nod and took his seat opposite to the two monarchs. "Struggling with your food, I see." He jokingly continued the conversation and held back a laugh when he saw Inori slowly faceplanting on the table in defeat. For someone who had looked forward to good food after 5 long years of being denied food as a whole, this situation was simply unacceptable. Jun then decided to put both his hands together in an apologetic gesture and said:

"Please don't blame the cooks, guys. They are doing the best they can with what little they have."

"We know, Jun. It's just…hard to deal with this for a longer period of time." Shu explained to him, to which the younger man nodded understandingly.

"Bear with it for a little while longer and I might convince them to make something good this weekend. The next supply drop is coming in soon, too, so there is that as well. Hopefully we can snatch some good stuff this time. Of course, that will depend on big brother's plans about it."

"We are counting on you guys." Inori said tiredly…without looking up. She obviously didn't have much hope for a change in their food situation. However, this wasn't due to the fact that she doubted Jun's or Yahiro's capabilities, but rather due to the fact that she doubted the SDF would even bother putting better rations into their supply crates in the first place.

"Anyway, has your brother managed to tell you of our meeting today?" Shu eventually decided to change the topic as he reluctantly started consuming his food.

"Yeah, we only got about twenty minutes left, so we better eat up fast and prepare ourselves, hm?"

"I wonder if I will even be able to finish this muck in twenty minutes…" Shu looked down on his bowl of soup with disgust as he used his spoon to play around with it. A clear sign of how little interest he actually had in consuming it.

The representative of the Genesis grinned at him as he shoved the bowl of soup and rice on his tray aside to reveal a plate with a delicious looking slice of pie on it.

"Your peril has been noted, my king, and thus I present to you this humble token of friendship." He amusedly said and handled him the plate, which only caused the king to look at him as if he was some kind of god.

"I-impossible! H-how?" He muttered in disbelief as he took the pie with shaky hands, apparently afraid to accidentally drop and ruin it. Inori, confused about the sudden excitement she heard in Shu's voice, decided to look up and gaze upon the beauty that was before her. With sparkling eyes they beheld the delicious pastry that lied before them. All while Jun chuckled slightly.

"There was a sack of apples in the last crate we got and some girls secretly stole a few and baked some apple pies. When I noticed, they feared I might get mad, so they offered me this slice in hope I wouldn't get mad at them."

"Whatever punishment you gave them, I am pardoning them. In fact, I demand you giving them some medals for that deed. Finally some decent food in here!" The king stated. Inori nodded strongly to show her approval. Jun merely waved the matter off.

"Punishment? I did nothing of that sort. They were just young girls wanting to have something good once in a while. I thanked them for the slice of pie and let them enjoy the rest of it by themselves. Though I did tell them that they had to ask next time instead of secretly taking it."

"You are surprisingly kind, Jun." Inori stated with mild surprise. "But then again, you always tended to be softer towards children."

"Don't let yourself be fooled, Inori." Shu then decided to say with a mischievous grin. "He is just a corrupt politician who just accepted his first bribe."

That only caused Jun to chuckle even more. "Who said it was my first?" They then shared a short laugh together.

"But are you sure it's alright to give it away? They gave it to you, after all."

"It's alright, it's alright. You two look like you need it more than I do." Jun told them with a laugh.

"Even so…it wouldn't feel right. Here, you can have my half. The king halved the slice of pie and gave one to Inori and returned the other one back to Jun.

"You are too kind, my liege." The younger man replied with a grin.

"Just shut up and eat it, before I change my mind…" The king replied with narrowed eyes, slightly regretting his decision.

"It's delicious." His queen decided to inform him with a face so full of happiness, that he couldn't help but smile as well.

"Glad to hear that. Enjoy it as much as you can. Who knows when we might get another chance to eat something good again."

"Shu, have some too." She told him as she put some of the precious pastry onto her fork and commenced to bring it near his face. "Say 'ah~'!"

His eyes widened for a second out of surprise about this unexpected development, yet he didn't waste a second to obey his queen's request, albeit with a faint shade of pink on his face. As he slowly let the pie dissolve in his mouth, he couldn't help but wonder whether the joy he felt right now was caused by the pastry or Inori's cuteness. The pink haired girl for her part appeared to be content enough with the fact that she had been able to share her happiness with her dear king.

"You two just gave me diabetes." Jun teasingly said. His head casually leaned on his left hand while his right held the fork with which he was eating his half of the slice of pie. A wide grin appeared on his face as he nonchalantly shoved a bite into his mouth. "That scene was worth paying half of the pie for, makes you feel all fuzzy and warm inside."

"Oh shut up!" Shu retorted with an embarrassed smile. For a short while they were able to enjoy the friendly atmosphere, until they were interrupted by a young woman, dragging along a boy of probably 10 years or something.

"Excuse me…" She politely said, causing the couple and their friend to turn towards her. Once she had their attention, she pulled the boy in front of her and pointed at him.

"Terribly sorry to disturb your meal, but this kid keeps interfering with our work and no one can be bothered to do something about him. I didn't mean to come to you directly, Shu, Inori, but since you two are sitting with Jun I thought I might as well come to you and ask for help."

Meanwhile, the boy in her grip broke free and showed her his outstretched tongue. "Let go of me already, you hag. It's not my fault you guys can't handle a joke!"

Shu and Inori saw Jun sigh and massage his forehead in frustration.

"This kid again…honestly, didn't I tell you to stop bothering people with your void?" He scolded the boy, clearly being annoyed by him.

"What did he do?" The pink haired queen wanted to know.

"His void. It's a flashbang. He keeps running around and blinding people with it. No matter how often I keep telling him to stop, he just keeps doing it." He explained as he helplessly scratched the back of his head. "I don't know what to do with him. He is too young to do work around here and would only get in the way, but he can't play around in here either, 'cause we have no room for that kind of stuff. If I let him go outside, he might actually get into trouble, so..."

Once Inori had heard that, she narrowed her eyes on the kid, asking him: "Is that true? Are you causing Jun trouble by disobeying him?"

"So what if I am, huh? It's not my fault everything around here is so damn boring! All the grown-ups are busy…no one wants to play. Even you, Inori! You used to play with us and tell us stories back in the void realm. Now all you do is work."

The royal couple shared a troubled look. Naturally, not all Genesis who stayed behind with them had been soldiers. Many civilians, some of them just mere kids, also got stranded in Tokyo with no way of escaping on their own. But while the grown up civilians at least could make themselves useful around the base by doing basic work with or without their voids, the kids ended up totally losing out. For two weeks now, they could do little but to stay hidden in the base, with no one available to spend time with them. It truly was pitiful.

"I know we told you we would play with you, but…that was before Da'ath screwed us over. We had thought the war was over, but it isn't. You understand that, right?" Shu tried to reason with the kid, who only looked away defiantly.

"I know that. But we were at war with Mana before and Inori still found time for us."

Inori apologetically put a hand on his shoulder as she knelt down next to him. "The void worked different from our real world. We used to have a lot of time in there. Now we don't. I am really sorry…"

He pushed her hand away. "Bullshit. You just want to spend more time with Shu. Admit it! You just like him more than us. That damn bastard…" The boy muttered the last part, causing the king to raise an eyebrow in wonder.

"Excuse me…?"

"You heard me, idiot! Why don't you go back to where you came from and leave Inori to us, thief!" He ran up to Shu and kicked him in the shin.

"Ow, what gives, kid?" He grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and pulled him up, causing him to violently throw kicks and punches into the air.

"Let go of me and fight like a man, you coward!" he demanded. This suddenly caused the woman who brought him here to grin at them.

"No way…don't tell me this kid has a crush on the queen." This caused Jun to be hit by a sudden wave of epiphany.

"Ah, so all the pranks were supposed to get her attention, which heavily backfired cause he never got sent to her, like he probably wanted, but to me instead. Now I see." He concluded with a nod as he scratched his chin.

The young boy, now apparently having been seen through by everyone (as was indicated by the red color on his face), pulled out his own void from inside his chest and held it in front of him. It was a metallic baseball with glowing lines adorning it on the places on which the seams would have been on a real one. A switch was placed on top of it, on which the boy put his thumb, followed by pressing it and pointing it in front of him with closed eyes.

"You got it all wrong, shithead! Just die!" He had yelled while the ball in his hand activated itself. The metal plates on it mechanically pushed themselves aside and made way for a blinding light from inside the sphere. Luckily for Inori, the woman, who had already had the displeasure of witnessing the void's effect before, realized the kid's plans in time and managed to cover both her and the queen's eyes before they could get affected by it. Shu and Jun, however, had not been as lucky.

"Argh, my eyes!" Shu yelled as he let go of the kid and covered his eyes in pain.

"This damn brat!" He could hear Jun curse next to him, who was probably as busy with covering his eyes as he himself was.

The 'brat' used this opportunity to run up to Inori and place himself in front of her protectively while laughing at the two men he just blinded temporarily.

"See? That's what you get for trying to steal Inori away! Know your places!"

The laughter eventually subsided, though, once he saw the two men slowly recovering from his attack with menacing looking grins on their faces.

"Hey, Jun…isn't using one's void against their king considered treason?"

"Why, yes, my lord. I do believe an execution is in order here."

"You wouldn't know of someone with a gallows as a void now, do you?"

"I am afraid not, my king. But I know of someone who has a guillotine."

"Ah, that would serve our needs just fine."

They both approached the boy with heavy, slow steps. By cracking his knuckles, the king further diminished the boy's confidence and eventually caused him to hide behind the queen he had vowed to protect only moments prior.

"I think that is enough now, you two." Inori finally said, momentarily stopping their predatory approach.

"Come on, Inori. Let us teach him a lesson. We will show restraint, okay?" Shu begged.

"No."

"Milady, justice must be served." Yahiro's little brother demanded. The queen put her right hand on her chin as if in thought and muttered:

"Hm…you have a point there…he HAS been quite naughty." That, of course, earned her a lot of approving nods from Jun and Shu while the boy in question just gulped in worry.

"Perhaps we could gather a couple of people who would have to tickle him for at least half an hour without break. That would sound good, wouldn't it?" Jun suggested. The king next to him grinned with folded arms.

"Or we put him in a dress and let him run three labs around the hideout for shit and giggles."

"Oh! I would actually support this!" The woman from before enthusiastically agreed, thinking that punishment would benefit everyone, since the kid's victims could get a good laugh out of it as well.

Inori eventually turned around to the boy, who was still hiding behind her, and demanded:

"Apologize to them."

Everyone was quiet for a few second, obviously dumbfounded by the simplicity of her demand, before they all yelled: "Huuuuh?" in unison.

"Come on, Inori! That brat shouldn't have to get away this easy." The brown haired king complained. The kid in question also seemed to be quite discontent with the suggestion.

"Wait, why should I apologize? They are the bad guys here who tried to steal you away!"

"Would you rather run around in a dress?" The queen merely replied to him, immediately silencing him up. "And Shu, don't you feel bad for him? He has a rival he just can't compete with, which probably is the cause for all his irritation."

The king awkwardly averted his gaze and decided to scratch the back of his head. "Well, if you put it that way…"

Inori then kneeled down to be on eye level with the boy and said: "It's true. Shu is very, very important to me."

Hearing this, he couldn't help but look down in defeat. "Tch…"

That was the moment in which she hugged him, effectively catching him by surprise. "But that doesn't mean I have stopped caring for you and all the other people from the void realm. I will care and fight for you as long as you need me to. That's what it means to be a queen. Therefore…"

She pulled away slowly and smiled. "Please support me by getting along with everyone, okay?"

With a big blush, the boy gave her his most determined nod. "O-of course!" He said, followed by turning towards Shu, Jun and the woman and bowing to them.

"I caused you trouble and called you names. I see that such behavior was very rude of me. I am really sorry for what I did. Please forgive me!"

The people he appealed to right now could do nothing but exchange awkward looks with each other. Staying mad at the brat after he pulled such a 180° turn in character wasn't exactly an easy feat.

Jun was the first to break the ice with a sigh. "Well, I suppose I can let it slide this time…though I hope you will listen to what I have to say to you from now on. And no more name calling, alright?

"Understood."

"If you understand that, then I guess that's fine by me. As long as it means everyone can work in peace without you blinding people all the time…" The woman eventually gave in as well.

"I won't. in fact, I want the king to have my void." That caught everyone by surprise. The king himself asked with a raised eyebrow:

"Really? Why?"

"I was just playing around with it, but you are going to fight the bad guys, right? I want to protect Inori but I know I can't. However, if my void is with you, I could indirectly protect her with your help. If it is alright with you, please take it with you and keep the queen save in my stead."

Shu looked at the boy in astonishment which soon turned into a big smile.

"Of course. Rest assured, as long as I live, nothing bad will come to her. And the past has taught me that I am quite hard to kill." He took the flashbang void from him and absorbed it into his void arm. "Especially when I have lots of voids with me. Including yours."

"It's a promise then. I am leaving the queen in your hands."

"Thank you. I won't disappoint you."

They shook hands to seal the deal. When the kid took a glimpse over at Inori, he only saw her nodding contently at him, which in return made him look proud as ever for pleasing her. They then parted ways, with the woman taking the kid with her again. The youngster waved his good bye strongly as he left and earned the same treatment in return from the king and his queen, though Shu had a feeling the kid had not as much cared for the return of the gesture as for the fact that it had been Inori who did it. Not that he really cared, though. If anything, it was amusing…ah, the simplicity of a childhood crush.


	3. Forming a plan

**3\. Forming a plan**

Nothing else worth mentioning happened after that. Shu had forced himself to eat his meal and had continued his smalltalk with Inori and Jun. Until it had finally been time for the meeting he had made sure no one would forget.

For that reason, everyone of importance met at the old meeting room, which had probably once served as a lounge for employees of the factory and had then been reformed into their command center by Gai and his Undertakers afterwards. Since then, it had served as the center of the base whenever the resistance group had to come here. Tactics had been developed here and the most important announcements from Gai to the biggest players in his resistance group had also token place in this very room. Given that fact, Shu and Inori had had little reason to change that and simply had continued the tradition. After all, it was a big room while also being far away enough from the busy and loud parts of the hideout, allowing them some peace and quiet as they would discuss their most pressing matters at hand here.

The room itself was rather big, probably to hold enough people during their lunch break. It held multiple couches and other sitting opportunities, each filled with layers upon layers of dust, due to the lack of people to use them for several years. Empty flowerpots and dysfunctional vending machines also adorned the place, needless to say that the plants had long since died and withered away. A skylight enthroned the room, ensured it would be fairly lit during daytime and also invited every visitor to have an inspiring look at the sky. Well, at least a long time ago, since the windows had never been cleaned in all this time, making it quite hard to even take a look outside. Still, if one used his fantasy, he would be able to see that this lounge probably had used to be a pretty nice place back in the days it had still been used as such.

At the center of the room stood a big, round table, which looked slightky out of place, considering the other furniture present. That was because it had been put in place by Gai and had once been used to hold a lot of screens on it. They had allowed everyone present to view important data displayed on it as Gai would hold his briefings. However, unlike the equipment in Tsugumi's little communication center, the devices which had been present here, had long since ceased to function properly and thus had had to be disposed off.

Though every loss of any piece of technology had been more than regrettable to the newly formed resistance group, it couldn't be helped. Looking at it from a different angle, it at least gave them enough room to allow everyone to grab a chair and take a seat at it, instead of being forced to stand around it. Since those meetings tended to take a while, having the option to attend them in a sitting position always appeared to get appreciated by anyone present.

The king tiredly allowed himself to look up at the windows located at the roof. It had become rather dark outside, which didn't come to a big surprise to anyone since it still had been the middle of winter. He noticed snow gathering on top of them and was really relieved that the heating system of this old building had still been operational, unlike most of the other stuff that got left behind 5 years ago.

To his right, Inori sat, looking far more awake than her precious soul mate next to her did. Though it did little in the end, since she also looked quite bored and not quite motivated at all. Not that anyone could blame her. With a long and exhausting day behind her, anyone would just want to go back to their room and rest. Unfortunately for her, sharing a leader position with Shu required her to be present at every meeting, even if said meetings took place late in the evening.

To Shu's left sat Yahiro, who probably appeared the most serious among all people in the room. Surely he must have been tired as well, but if that had been the case, he seemed to be able to hide that fact quite well. He probably had been used to it since he had often mentioned that his former job had required him to work overtime more often than he would have liked to. Anyway, as the biggest tactician of the group, he couldn't afford to let his mind slack during these meetings, and thus he looked sharp as ever.

Quite the opposite of Hare, who kept yawning at certain intervals next to him, obviously not very fond over the fact that she had been woken up earlier from the relaxing sleep Shu had provided her with. Back in the void realm, she had been in charge of the infirmary and everyone working there. Now that they had escaped that cursed dimension, she had ended up filling up the same role in their resistance group, only with fewer personnel and more to do, leaving her with quite a busy schedule. Her attendance during these meetings wasn't quite mandatory, but she still showed up on every single one to show everyone how much she cared.

Opposite of Yahiro sat Argo, who as the representative of every human in Funeral Parlor and thus second instance for them to turn to, directly after Shu and Inori, could not afford to miss out on any important meetings. Since they trusted him, he had to make sure that Shu and Inori would make plans that would be in their interest. The royal couple also made use of his direct connection with the human faction to have a detailed insight about their status in Funeral Parlor. He leaned against the back of his chair and allowed his right leg to casually rest on his left knee as he awaited the start of the meeting.

His counterpart, Jun, sat at Hare's left side with both his hands folded in front of him on the table, twiddling his thumbs. What Argo was for the humans, Jun was for the GenesisGenesis. Like Hare, he had kept his role that had been bestowed upon him back in the void kingdom and continued being the guy the GenesisGenesis could come to if they didn't want to bother their queen and her king directly.

Between both representatives were the seats of Shu's step mother and step uncle, who had both taken it upon themselves to study the consequences of evolution directly to satisfy their thirst for knowledge as scientists. Especially Haruka had seemed to get really into the matter during the last few weeks, probably not least because she wanted to know what changes her son had gone through when he had returned from the void realm. Keido merely assisted her while also conducting research on his own to confirm theories he had come up with during his long imprisonment in the void limbo. Their results, though nice to have, weren't really needed during the meetings, but Shu could hardly keep his own mother out of his plans, so he always invited her to take part in them if she wanted. Keido, on the other hand, served as an important source, seeing as to how he was an Ex-Da'ath member, so his presence was more than welcome. Currently, Haruka, half asleep, leaned against Keido's shoulder, looking as if she was about to doze off any minute now. Her brother apparently couldn't be bothered by that, as was indicated by his usual poker face. He endured his sister's antics with his sheer patience and indifference.

The remaining two seats belonged to Ayase and Tsugumi, sitting between Inori and Argo. The former had taken it upon herself to train the majority of newcomers together with Argo and kept an account of the armory's inventory, while the latter obviously continued her old work of handling communications as well as overseeing maintenance of all kinds of machinery the group currently owned. However, with only one Endlave and a couple of vehicles at the group's disposal, it was safe to say that her main job consisted of the communications and Intel gathering department.

"Well now, since everyone is present, why don't we start with this meeting? The sooner we get to it, the sooner we will be done and can go to sleep." Shu finally said as he leaned forward on the table and eyed everyone briefly. He saw Keido click his fingers in front of Haruka's face to wake her, which inevitably brought a smile on his face. "As you all know, it has been two weeks since the return of the apocalypse virus, meaning that Mana has been resurrected and active for the same amount of time. It is currently not clear to us why she has not yet attempted to bring the apocalypse again, but it can only be a matter of time before she eventually will. And we will have to prevent that at all costs. Again…" He added the last bit with clearly audible annoyance which resulted in everyone else to feel the same way.

"The third time's the charm, right?" Tsugumi jokingly said, earning her some chuckles from the round of ten people.

"We have done it before, we can do it again, right?" Inori said and looked over to Shu who gave her a reassuring nod.

"Yes, though I would really like to make this the last time. For good." Everyone nodded at that.

Yahiro cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "For that reason, we need to form a plan. And to form a plan, you need to overview the whole picture. So please allow me to give everyone a quick briefing of our current situation, so that we all share the same state of knowledge." He then proceeded to take out a remote control from his pocket and pressed a button. A holographic image soon appeared on the middle of the table. Installed by no one else but Tsugumi, of course.

The image showed a geographic overview of Tokyo, surrounded by a thick, orange line, which symbolized the outer quarantine walls raised by the military. A significant part of the city's south eastern center was encircled by a red line, with the area inside flashing up in an alarming way in the matching color. That, undoubtedly, was loop seven…currently held by Mananites. The red circle was also surrounded by another orange line, indicating the SDF's inner quarantine wall. Three strategically important points on the map were present as well. One being located in the southern central part of loop seven, marking the location of Tennozu High, another one to the east of it at Narita Airport and the remaining one at their current location in Yokohama, to the south of loop seven.

"As you can clearly see, the enemy has seized loop seven and is supposedly using Tennozu High as their base of operation, seeing as a large crystal formation has been raised around it to fortify the structure. The SDF has trapped them inside, but is unable to gain ground on them, as was clearly shown by their failed invasion attempt on day 3 and day 8 since the lockdown." He pressed a few more buttons and the holographic projection changed the shape of the red area. At first it looked like it grew smaller on the eastern side, as the orange line pressed forward and pushed the red line further back, but soon afterwards, the orange line got pushed back again and the enemy even gained a bit of the space previously held by the orange line. Almost the same happened on the northern side of it. The military seemed to have won a bit of ground at first, but eventually god beaten back there as well.

"They haven't tried another approach ever since, but it is believed that they plan to perform another offensive soon." Yahiro continued the explanation.

"That's good. Maybe we can finally convince them that we are on their side and combine our forces against the enemy." Argo said, but only earned disapproval from Tsugumi.

"Nay, I have already tried to negotiate a truce with them, but they would have none of that. They say the only way they would listen to what Shu has to say is if he stood trial."

"Which is not an option, since I cannot possibly prove that Da'ath exists and is, in fact, responsible for this whole mess." Shu added with a frown. "They would only find me guilty and lock me away, giving Da'ath enough time to begin the apocalypse."

"But we can't fight the SDF! They are good people, who are just mistaken in their beliefs that Shu is the villain here." Argo argued, which was understandable, since he himself and a couple of his friends had been enlisted in the SDF before coming here.

Yahiro decided to speak up again. "That's why we won't fight them, but instead will use the fight they will cause as a distraction to breach their barrier surrounding loop seven and fight the Mananites somewhere else, forcing them to open up two fronts against us." Pressing additional buttons, the holo-screen showed multiple sections of the inner barrier being marked with big, green X's on the south and western sides.

"According to our scouts, these are the sections of the barrier which are the least defended and thus easiest to breach. We will realize the SDF's movement and adjust our own forces to avoid their main force while also marching through one of those weak spots. Hopefully, the SDF will be too preoccupied with the enemy to pay much attention to us, while we quickly fight our way through enemy ranks right into Tennozu High."

"T-that sounds like a reasonable plan, I suppose." Argo chose to admit. True, he didn't want to fight the SDF, but if they followed that plan, they would minimize SDF casualties while also indirectly fighting together against Da'ath.

"You say that as if it was an easy feat, Yahiro." Ayase eventually piped up with a sigh and folded arms. "Even if things go smooth and we easily get through the SDF barricade, we will still face a considerable enemy force once we are inside loop seven. One which even held and fought back the SDF. We might have roughly enough resources to fight them, but if they push us back, we will have nothing left for a second try. And if the SDF decides to fall into our backs while we are in the middle of engaging the Mananites, we would be completely surrounded. We don't have enough manpower and weaponry to fight them both at the same time."

"That is not exactly true, Ayase." This time, Haruka spoke up with a serious expression. "From what I can tell so far, every evolved person that came back from that void realm is, in fact, worth at least twice a normal person. With the potential to even triple that amount depending on the power of their void. From a scientific standpoint, it is quite amazing, but from a human one…let's just say their difference is very frightening."

Her brother next to her added calmly: "GenesisGenesis, as you call them, are what many governments had tried to achieve during the last couple of decades in their top secret "super soldier programs". In fact, Da'ath had had their own experiments going on regarding that matter. Still, what they had managed to achieve amounts to next to nothing when faced with the superiority of evolution.

"You know, that makes me kinda curios. When you speak of superiority, what do you mean, exactly?" Argo questioned the scientists with raised eyebrows, causing Haruka to answer him with a worried frown.

"Keido and I had run tests on many Evolies during the past two weeks and we came to the conclusion that GenesisGenesis are better in every aspect. It would not be exaggerated to say that they truly are the next step of human evolution. They can easily surpass a normal person in strength, intellect, agility and even their life spans."

"Seriously? How unreal…" The representative of the humans mumbled in shock as his expression formed into a grimace which could at best be described as a mixture of astonishment and fear.

"Hold on just a second!" The somewhat sleepy Hare finally said. The revealed information apparently caught her interest all of a sudden. "What do you mean with 'even their life spans'?"

In regard of the girl's question, Keido cleared his throat for a second, before explaining: "This actually shouldn't come to a big surprise to most GenesisGenesis, especially the older ones. Surely you must have noticed that most of the older folks looked and felt younger after they had gone through evolution, yes? That is because they are. Haruka and I could not have tested this, seeing as we needed to observe certain evolved persons over a longer time span to actually present clear proof, but Da'ath themselves already had the theory that evolution would at least double the potential life span of GenesisGenesis. That is probably one of the reasons they are so obsessed with it, too. Think about it: It may not be eternal youth, but would make your youth last twice as long as it would normally. Furthermore, if you went through the process of the apocalypse with the body of a 40 year old and could evolve into a body of a 20 year old, wouldn't you like that?"

"That's certainly true. A lot of powerful people would also pay a lot of money to have a chance to be young again." Yahiro agreed with a bitter expression to which Keido merely nodded.

"Exactly. Da'ath got a lot of investors through their so called "Devil's pacts" which allowed them to become this powerful in the first place. Unfortunately, I never got to know who these money givers were, but I am willing to bet it were a lot."

"So…looks like at least half of us will outlive the other half present, huh…" Jun finally realized with a sad expression while looking over at his big brother. The rest couldn't help but do the same.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Keido said with a bitter chuckle. "What was meant to be humanity's biggest blessing turned out to be a curse instead as we are now forced to see our non-evolved loved ones perish before us.

It was true. Had the apocalypse been triggered and not stopped, it would have affected everyone on earth in the same way. More people would have died, but at least every remaining one would have been granted a longer live with everyone else who would have made it as well. Now, it would end up tearing friends and family apart as GenesisGenesis would live in their own time, while normal humans did in theirs. Truly unfortunate. Maybe this was nature's revenge for humanity, since it tried to escape its own fate. Who could truly tell?

The atmosphere had been quite grim for a while before Ayase broke the silence with a groan. "Enough of that. Since we can't change it, how about we get back to the problem at hand? For example, what had all of this to do with my calculations being off?"

Shu was first to answer her. "Simply said, mother tried to tell us that even if we had to fight the SDF and Mananites together, we could still stand a chance as long as we have GenesisGenesis as well."

His explanation, however, only raised more questions for them. Tsugumi blinked a few times in confusion and asked: "But aren't Mananites GenesisGenesis, too?"

"Yes." Inori agreed. "But they are heavily unorganized and barbaric. In all my 5 years of fighting them with a considerable smaller army, I never had much difficulty standing my ground."

Hare continued from there. "That's true. Mananites tend to fight amongst themselves more often than not. They are like a pack of wolves, constantly gnarling and barking at each other as they try to show dominance over one another. When fighting them, you will notice many smaller groups coming at you, rather than a unified army. To them, bringing the enemy down is a competition, for if you succeed in taking out many enemies or even a high priority target, you would receive a reward from Mana."

Following that, Jun folded his arms in front of his chest and told everyone with a proud nod: "And to top it all off, as long as Mana won't show herself in person, we will have a big advantage by sending in our queen herself. Plus, there is Shu as well."

"I get why Shu is a key person here, but what is this about Inori?" It was Argo again, who asked this in a rather skeptical way. Keido answered him.

"She is a fake Eve. Eve is the one who brings the apocalypse. If you said an Genesis is worth two or even three normal humans, than Eve would be worth at least 100 or more. You can think of it as chess, where she would be the queen piece. Da'ath is very unfortunate to have created a fake one. Especially since she went rouge on them."

"A hundred or more…? Seriously…?" The young ex-SDF member involuntarily flinched at those numbers and threw a serious look at Inori. When he had first met her, she had been nothing more than a quiet girl, following around Gai at all times. Now look at her, having gained all these fancy powers. Was she even still human? For that fact, were GenesisGenesis even still human in general?

The queen couldn't help but notice him staring at her and confusedly tilted her head to the side as she asked: "Is something the matter, Argo?"

"Ah, no. It's nothing. These were just some scary numbers, is all. With things like this, I just wonder if we humans are still needed at all…?" He offered her an awkward smile.

"Don't be afraid, Argo. We are on the same side." She told him. Next to her, Shu nodded and added:

"No matter how much you think GenesisGenesis are scary, Da'ath is scarier. So scary, in fact, that we will need everyone to help out against them. The GenesisGenesis can't do this alone, so it is important for them and humans to get along and fight together. We can't afford to have internal struggles while we have to deal with Mananites, Da'ath and whoever it is that is backing them. And there is the SDF as well. This will be the Undertakers' hardest fight yet."

"I understand that, Shu…it's just…not all Undertaker's are that understanding…"

Jun sighed. "I suppose some GenesisGenesis are not helpful in that regard, either. Quite a couple of them are getting pretty cocky towards their non-evolved counterparts."

"Then I suppose we should keep everything Haruka and Keido just said in this room strictly." Yahiro suggested. "If word goes around how superior GenesisGenesis exactly are, it might only widen the gap between both parties through jealously, fear and overconfidence."

"Just like when you hid the fact about voids back at Tennozu, hm?" Ayase remarked somewhat bitterly before turning to Shu. "I don't like this, Shu." Before he could answer, Tsugumi butted in.

"Me neither, but he has a point. If things between GenesisGenesis and humans are already this tense, facts like these would only make it worse. We should focus on uniting them before sharing such crucial information."

"Then let's keep it a secret for now, like Yahiro suggests. We can always tell them later, when the time is better." The brown haired king decided, to which Ayase only frowned.

"Or worse…"

"I am fine with keeping that a secret, for now…" Came Argo's agreement. Even he had to admit that an escalation due to the revelation of this information was in neither of their interests. "Though, there is another problem as well. The Undertaker veterans want to strike as soon as possible. They get more anxious with every passing day we won't take the initiative. With the apocalypse right around the corner, they fear waiting for too long would be our undoing."

"Which is true, I suppose." Shu said with a nod after he had heard Argo's concerns. "Technically, the apocalypse can happen any time now. However, Da'ath could have triggered it two weeks ago. Why wait? It is this delay that makes me think they are still missing something. And that's why I believe we still have a bit of time, though not much."

"Well, why do WE wait, then? We have just established that we are powerful enough to take the GenesisGenesis in loop seven on. If we do this now, we might even be able to fight our way through the Mananites directly over to Tennozu High before the SDF could even mobilize their forces to get in our way."

"That's risky." Yahiro disagreed. "We don't know how far the SDF is with their preparation for their third offensive. It is all about timing. If we attack too early while the SDF is almost finished with their preparations, they might see our attack and flank us from behind, which would only make things difficult for us and would cost us our advantage with the creation of a second front."

"Besides…" His little brother also felt the need to add something. "The GenesisGenesis are against rash actions. If we present them a rushed plan, they might not be willing to march into battle. With their void realm 'immortality' gone, they are quite reluctant to risk death too easily."

"That's all easy for you to say, just because you guys are immune to the virus…" Argo growled in return. "It's not you guys who will die if the apocalypse happens again, is it?" Jun, however, stood his ground in front of the older man as he returned his cold stare with one of his own.

"Maybe so, but many of our family members and friends are still humans like you." He took a short glance over to his older brother, before locking eyes with Argo again. "Of course we share the mutual interest to prevent an apocalypse which stands as a potential risk of killing them."

"All the more reason to perform a pre-emptive strike, no?"

"Have you even been listening to my big brother?"

"Enough." Inori's voice suddenly brought silence to the room. "How can we expect GenesisGenesis and humans to get along, if even their chosen representatives begin arguing with each other?" She scolded them, causing Jun to close his eyes defeatedly as he realized his mistake. Argo seemed less eager to let the matter rest, but even he had to eventually see that Inori had a point. It wasn't like he WANTED to cause more trouble between both factions, and so he, too, started to relax a bit.

"I am sorry, Inori."

"Yeah, sorry about that. My bad."

After he saw them both apologizing, Yahiro couldn't help but sigh.

"You know, it's not like I would have presented this plan if I had doubts that the SDF would begin their operations in the coming days. I know that we cannot wait forever and I share the anxiety of every human, since I am in the same boat as you are, Argo. Still, I think this is the best shot we have and I highly suggest we go with that. Shu agreed with me when we talked about it this morning as well."

As if to confirm Yahiro's claim, Shu added with a nod: "That's correct. It's not like we thought of this plan on a whim. And I agree that we cannot wait forever. If the SDF won't make a move soon, we will. We hardly have a choice."

"…Fine. I will try convincing everyone else that we should go with your plan. A battle with better odds of survival is generally not bad either way. It's not like we all have a death wish or something…"

"What can we do in the meantime, though? It could be a couple of days before the SDF mobilizes again…" The sole wheelchair bound girl among them wanted to know.

"Right…" Yahiro said and urged everyone else to have another look at the holo-screen. "So far, we still haven't talked about our biggest problem yet. In battle, knowledge is power. To know the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy is a crucial factor that could decide the outcome of every conflict."

Suddenly, he made the screen divide into three parts, each containing various information about their potential enemies. However, while the charts for the SDF and Mananites bore a considerable amount of details, the one for Da'ath remained almost empty. The strategist of the group focused on that chart by enlarging it and letting the other two disappear.

"And yet, while we managed to gather at least something about the SDF and the enemy GenesisGenesis in loop seven, we still know next to nothing about the mysterious organization that apparently is behind this whole mess. We don't know how large it is, who its members are or how much resources they have at their disposal. Frankly speaking, they are a large question mark to us. And that is very bad."

"We basically only know that they want to bring the apocalypse and that they have enough backing through rich and influential people." Hare thought out aloud.

"Plus, there is that envoy that nearly killed Shu and the rest of us not so long ago." Ayase added with a serious expression. Once she had mentioned him, Yahiro showed a phantom drawing of him on the screen.

"He's in fact the only face we can directly tie to Da'ath and yet we don't even have a real image, just this drawing I sketched from memory."

"Yuu…a damn cocky brat who I never liked, even back when I still was with Da'ath." Keido remarked with clear annoyance in his voice. "He is not called the envoy of Da'ath for nothing, since he is the only member they will ever let you meet in person. If you ever saw his face, then that's only because he wanted you to see it. Whenever you need something of them, he will show up and deal with the problem. No matter what it is. As incredibly resourceful, cunning and powerful as he is, having him for an enemy is the worst thing that could happen to you…"

"That's true." Shu reluctantly agreed with downcast eyes. "He is not a man you can easily deal with. No matter what I did in the past, he always was a step ahead of me. It's all as if I was playing right into his hands from the very beginning. Even when I ventured into the void to rescue Inori and the others, it turned out to be nothing but a trick of him to get access to the gateway connecting both worlds. He even took one of my two void genomes. I can only curse at my own foolishness to not having seen that coming. I should have known it would not be that easy…"

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Shu…I don't think anyone could have predicted this outcome…" Haruka tried to comfort him. His queen, too, tried to cheer him up by gently holding his hand, resulting in a weak, yet thankful smile from him in return.

His brown haired friend next to him cleared his throat to get back to the problem at hand. "As you can see, this is all we know, which really amounts to next to nothing. Without more information on Da'ath, we are likely to run into a lot of trouble once we decide to face them."

"I already tried my best…" Tsugumi told them with a sigh. "I hacked myself into various databases and searched the net about ANYTHING that could give us more information on Da'ath, but all there is are rumors and urban legends, with one sounding more ridiculous than the other. It's as if Da'ath themselves managed the internet and deleted everything that could lead to them while purposely leaving behind false trails. Our best bet would be to get our hands on a direct source, rather than relying on digital ones…"

Upon her mention of a direct source, all eyes immediately directed themselves into Keido's direction, whose eyes in return only closed themselves in frustration.

"Even if you all look at me, it is an undeniable fact that I have not been in contact with Da'ath for 5 long years. I would know nothing of their current plans or with who they might have allied themselves with."

This answer didn't seem to please the brunette Endlave pilot among them, seeing as she eyed the ex-Antibodies leader suspiciously.

"Are you sure you can't tell us anything? Or is it rather that you don't want to?"

"Yeah, I am still not really convinced of his loyalty myself." Argo agreed with folded arms. "After all, this guy nearly got us all killed more than once."

It was no one else but his sister, who came to his defense. "He is trying really hard, you know…we all have more than enough reasons to be mad at him, but everyone deserves a second chance, right?"She told them with narrowed eyes, obviously slightly irritated with them, followed by taking a glance at her brother, who awkwardly averted his own gaze out of embarrassment. He obviously wasn't comfortable with this whole situation. Haruka merely smiled, knowing that deep down, he was thankful, even though he was bad at showing it.

"A-Anyway…all I can say for sure is that Da'ath always has acted in the shadows by hiding behind the name of a different group, such as GHQ in the past. That's the only way they can operate while still remaining undetected by the rest of the world. If you want to know more about them, finding out who is aiding them this time should be your first course of action."

"Well, the men we encountered at Tennozu High spoke fluent Japanese and also didn't look like they were foreigners from what little we could make out of them." Yahiro thought out aloud while holding his chin with his right hand, obviously trying to concentrate. "Could be a Japanese group this time who is backing them up." He concluded.

"The endlaves they used were also Japanese models." Ayase added. "They looked like the ones we used to purchase on the black market back in the days we still fought GHQ."

Tsugumi then proceeded to nonchalantly press several spots on the holo-screen on her portable computer while explaining: "Well, looking at the few large companies in Japan which still have enough money and influence to afford buying endlaves and hiring mercenaries isn't that hard. Aren't many of them left after the economy crash of Lost Christmas. The only ones which are still running strong are the ones which hold a global presence. You could probably count them all with just two hands. There." With a final touch, she sent the results of her search up to the big holo-screen on the center of the table for everyone else to see.

A small list of little more than 10 big company names showed up and the small group spent some time to look at the familiar names, until one in particular caught their interest. Some of them shared a knowing look with each other. Ayase was the first to say what the majority of the gang already thought.

"You guys don't think it's her, right?"

"There is no way she could be that stupid…" Yahiro sighed and irritatingly massaged his forehead.

Inori frowned and Shu's expression involuntarily darkened a bit once they, too, came to the same conclusion.

"Arisa…" He quietly mumbled as he subconsciously touched his right arm once the memories of her betrayal came to mind. Indeed, The Kuhouin Group's name was found among the few ones Tsugumi had dug up. And with the blond haired young woman as its heir, she ended up inheriting the company of her late grandfather, who went and got killed by her in self defense before he had thought of disowning her. Or perhaps he just hadn't been able to force himself to do it, with her having been his biggest pride. Even though she had ended up losing her way and going astray.

The general reaction of everyone made Hare sigh in disappointment as realization struck her. "So…it is true what Inori told us in the void realm, huh? Arisa really joined the bad guys…"

"Well, she certainly did 5 years ago…but who knows if she still is affiliated with them? We could be jumping to conclusions here…" Haruka said in the girl's defense. "I have actually known the Kuhouin family for a long time now…to think of them as an enemy now feels just…wrong somehow…"

"To think they would still be allies now that Arisa took the lead wouldn't be right either, though." Shu objected and shook his head. "Anyway, it's our biggest lead regarding Da'ath so far, seeing as she had joined them before and even has a motive to aid them. We should investigate."

"Want me to hack into their database? Could take me a while, though." Tsugumi suggested.

"No, as you said. If she truly is on Da'ath's side, she would not leave any digital trails behind which could point into their direction. Da'ath themselves would make sure of that."

His brown haired friend next to him agreed. "Shu is right. If we want info on Da'ath, we will have to get it from her directly."

"So you mean…"

"Exactly." Shu nodded and looked at them all with a serious expression. "Let's go and pay her a visit."

-GC-

The meeting ended not long after that with only some additional minor details of their agenda left for them to discuss. Once taken care of, the king had been quick to end it due to the fact that it had already been getting late and most of them had been exhausted. Everyone had returned to their personal rooms soon after, with the king and his queen being no exception to this.

Naturally, after Shu had recovered from his injuries, he and Inori had moved into Gai's old room to sleep in. Well, in fact, Inori had pretty much moved them in with him just tagging along. It probably had felt natural to her to get back into this room, having probably slept in here with Gai on the few occasions they had actually been here in Yokohama together.

And though he also already knew that nothing had been going on between them, Shu still felt relieved to see this room actually had had two beds. One for Gai and another one for Inori. What made things even better was that Inori didn't use her old bed anymore. Instead, they would share his one. Unfortunately, this was also were the good part ended, because that was all that has been going on. They slept in it together. Literally. Nothing else had happened yet. And while Shu certainly had intentions to change that fact some day, he was afraid it would not happen at the present time and location. For he felt he would do Inori injustice to let their first time be on an old dirty mattress in a dusty, old room, even though he had the slight feeling she wouldn't care as much as he would himself.

And besides…who knew if Tsugumi hadn't secretly put cameras in here while no one was looking? He would rather get out there and hand himself over to the SDF than to risk her filming their first time. While he was sure the younger hacker wasn't evil enough to share the resulting video footage with all their friends, he was certain enough she would spread the news verbally instead, which was only better by a slight margin.

"Shu?"

His queen caught him spacing out while standing in front of his own personal holo-screen set up in their room. On it was, yet again, a geographical projection of Tokyo with all its strategically interesting points, just like the one Yahiro had shown them earlier. He was using it to get over the plan one more time, ensuring it would work out the way he and Yahiro thought it would. He just turned towards her with a gentle smile and asked:

"Yes?"

"We should go to sleep."

"Go ahead, I will be right behind you. Just have to make sure of something…"

Inori, however, only reacted by narrowing her eyes on him in discontent. "You said that yesterday as well and then I fell asleep waiting for you to join me."

"Oh, you are right. Sorry about that." He gave her an apologetic laugh and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I can turn down the lights a bit if they bother you."

"That's not the problem…" Now she visibly frowned at him, causing him to blink in confusion.

"Oh…am I to loud then, perhaps?"

She ignored his question and decided to ask him one of her own instead. "You haven't slept at all, have you?"

"Huh?"

"This morning, when I woke up, you were already awake. You said you woke up only shortly before me…that was a lie, wasn't it? You were awake all night."

"What…? No, I…"

"Are you lying again?" She looked at him directly with reddish eyes devoid of accusation, anger, disappointment or anything of that sort. It was as if all they were asking him was: "Are you?". Looking at those pure, worrying eyes of hers, slightly sparkling in the dim light of the table lamp next to them, the king just couldn't bring himself to lie to her. Sighing in defeat, he admitted:

"Yes…I stayed up all night."

Once she heard him say that, she wordlessly went over to his computer and pressed a button to shut it off immediately. She then proceeded to do the same with the small lamp on the table. Once she was done, all that could be seen in the room were their barely visible silhouettes from the faint moonlight entering from a window to their right. He felt her taking both his hand with each of her own and leading him toward their bed slowly.

"Come…"

"Inori, I really needed to finish that…"

"No, you need to sleep." He heard her getting into the bed first and from there she pulled him closer so he would join her. Thinking that further resistance was futile at this point, he gave in and lied down next to her, so that they would face each other. The moment he had lied down, he could feel her wrap her arms around him, probably to make sure he would not get up after she herself would have fallen asleep. He couldn't help but smirk at that. It seemed he would really have to sleep tonight.

"Alright, you win. There is no beating you." He admitted defeat and decided to hold her close as well, making her smile in relief. That was the moment he also finally realized how tired he really had become. The second he had given up, all his remaining energy just seemed to leave him altogether. It felt as if he just melted away in her arms. A pleasant fragrance of strawberries coming from her hair filled his nostrils as his eyelids started to grow heavy. With his last remaining power, he decided to hold her even closer, not wanting to ever let her go.

Yes, perhaps going to sleep really wasn't that bad of an idea after all, was his last though as he drifted off to sleep for good.

Noticing that, Inori just gently stroke his hair followed by burying her face into his chest. A satisfied smile was present on her lips as she, too, fell asleep.

"Good night, Shu."


	4. Back to school

**4\. Back to school**

"Good evening, Milady."

"Could I possibly be of service to you, Milady?"

"Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

These and many similar phrases were directed at a young, blond woman as she walked through the halls of a school she once used to attend. The people in front of her would step aside to make room for her, yet the woman would pay them no heed. Dismissing their words as a mere background noise, she continued to march forward accompanied by nothing but the noise of her high heels meeting the polished ground and a black haired man her age who kept trailing behind her nervously.

While it was somewhat obvious that these two were connected to each other, it was also crystal clear that their status quo was as different as day and night. Where the woman was clad in the most expensive business attire you could imagine, the man behind her wore a simple and somewhat worn out suit any Japanese salary man could easily get for a few yen. It hadn't been shabby or anything, but sure as hell could have used to get ironed once or twice in a while. His necktie was also slightly loose, thought that could have been on purpose, since he appeared to feel quite hot, as was implied by the few pearls of sweat on his forehead.

If you would also take in account how he was carrying the lady's neatly folded scarf and coat (which also bore the name of top class brands somewhere on their fabric), you would easily realize what their relationship was about.

A master and a slave. A noble and his servant. While these would fit, it was actually far less drastic, luckily for the man. For he was merely an employee assisting his boss with work. While it was basically the same job a slave would do, it at least meant he would get paid for it by the end of the month. And quite well, too, which was something at least.

But where his boss was a shining example of calmness and self-confidence, the employee was visibly unnerved by their surroundings. Not without reason, too, for he also had been here before, just like the woman in front of him had.

"Arisa…why the hell are we here…?" He asked her while he looked around nervously.

"I have business here. And I told you it's 'Miss Kuhouin' when we aren't alone." She answered in a matter-of-factly manner without turning around.

"I don't think these lunatics would mind…but that's beside the point. What kind of business could you possibly have here? This is Tennozu High…right in the middle of loop seven!"

"I know. So?"

"So?" The man was visibly shocked. "Don't you read the news? This is where all these void-freaks come from. Surely I must not explain to you how dangerous voids can be?"

"Voids are merely tools. What's dangerous is the person wielding them. Which is why there should always be a king around them to keep them in check."

The man sighed. "A king, huh? I wonder where Shu is during this crisis... I should have tried harder to stay in contact…"

Arisa's mood visibly darkened for a split second, but then she returned to her calm, professional self.

"You must be joking, Souta. I would sooner do my best to make you king before I would allow someone like Shu to ever reign again."

Said man couldn't help but laugh uncomfortably. He wasn't sure if he should feel happy or insulted because of her words. "While I can understand how you feel, it's still somewhat sad that you would think so badly of him."

"I am surprised you actually defend him, considering what he put you through 5 years ago."

"We all make mistakes, Arisa. God knows he made a lot of them, but we aren't really any better, are we?"

"Don't lump me together with that man, Souta. I don't care who you consider a friend these days, but I sure as hell won't ever forgive him."

"Well, I guess some things get broken beyond repair sometimes…" Souta sighed again and searched for a way to change the topic. He certainly couldn't bear walking these halls in silence. "But man…what HAPPENED to this place? I can see it's still Tennozu, but all these reinforcing crystals everywhere. Almost looks like this place has been taken over by…aliens or something."

"Not aliens…a monster." The blonde woman corrected.

"Monster?"

She finally turned around to face him for the first time during their conversation. A sinister grin on her lips.

"None other than your dear friend Ouma Shu's big sister. I guess the monster gene runs in the family. What do you have to say to that, huh?"

Souta blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Shu had a sister? Damn. How dare he hide her when he also had Inori…" After a pause he added: "Is she cute?"

At first, Arisa looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but then she quickly turned around, sounding as if she was suppressing a laugh.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"N-no…"

"You are, aren't you?"

"Let's just say I know exactly why I chose you to be my assistant." To have people around who spoke their mind with no care in the world certainly were more to Arisas liking than people who wouldn't. Especially since the latter were the majority she would encounter after becoming the head of the Kuhouin group. Normally, people would keep their distance around her, careful as to not sully their relationship with her, but not so Souta, whose simple-mindedness never failed to entertain her. She wondered how many of her employees would feel cheated if they were to ever find out that she had merely hired him because she found him amusing, opposing to everyone else for whom the deciding factor whether they would get the boot or not had been their qualifications alone.

"To answer your question…I suppose from looks alone she would be to your liking, but considering her personality…"

"Another ice queen, then? What a bummer." He sighed in disappointment.

"I wouldn't call her an ice queen…rather…wait…what could you possibly mean by 'another'?" She turned around again halfway in heir sentence to send him an icy glare, causing him to avoid it with a sheepish smile.

"Haha, I wonder…"

Silence followed afterwards, since Souta feared the anger of the ice queen would befall him should he talk any further. He had appreciated the conversation, as it had visibly calmed him down a bit, but he also came to regret that he had killed it off so soon. With no more things to talk about, his attention was bound to shift again to their surroundings. And he would have rather avoided that, to be honest.

As he had mentioned a couple of seconds ago, they had walked through the halls of Tennozu High again. Only that the place they had spent their high school days in had long since transformed into a foreign looking crystal infested fortress. Not only had many walls been reinforced with crystals, they had even been placed on top of the existing manmade buildings to expand them with new alienated ones. There was even a large tower like structure on top of the main building now. And while it sure looked amazing to walk through the beautiful crystal structures, it also had a scary feel to it. Like they had come to a place they did not belong.

Speaking of not belonging, the people around here looked very strange to Souta. Everyone was clad in white uniforms with glasses that prevented their eyes from being seen directly. That caused them to look like they were all more or less the same, which was really weird. He felt like he had entered the home of some strange kind of sect. And that thought certainly wasn't a pleasant one.

And for some reason they all acted like they worshipped his boss like some kind of honored member. But that couldn't be the case, right? Surely Arisa wasn't like them? He really wondered what all this was about. Why had they come to Tennozu High in the first place? It didn't make sense to him. But he wouldn't be surprised if it was due to the fact that no one ever told him anything anyway. He bet he was supposed to even feel grateful that Arisa took him with her, even though he would have preferred to be home right now.

"By the way…" She suddenly started talking again. Souta flinched a bit from surprise, but answered immediately anyway.

"Yes?"

"You are taking your vaccine shots, yes?"

"Of course. I think I will take another one just to be safe after we are done here. Being here brings back bad memories."

He was a bit happy that she offered him an understanding smile. "Don't worry. I will make sure you will receive your share correctly this time around. I don't need any stupid ranking systems." The last bit was added with scorn.

"That's a relief, really." He answered truthfully.

"Before I forget, take this." She took a strangely shaped purple crystal out of her pocket and handed it to him. It was about fist sized and reminded him of a rose blossom. He thought it to be rather pretty, but a bit too girly for his taste. However, he took it anyway.

"What is it?"

"A lucky charm. For when things go south. Keep it with you at all times. At. All. Times. Understood? Trust me when I say you will regret it if you don't."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He wondered, but upon seeing the seriousness in her eyes, he did not dare to disobey. With a nod, he tucked it away in his pocket, earning a satisfied nod from her in return.

"Good boy."

"Are you treating me like a dog…?"

"Maybe."

He sighed again. "Is getting dog-zoned considered a higher zone than getting friend-zoned?"

"Hm, I wonder…" She replied with a very amused expression on her face. A soft giggle escaped her lips. Yep, simple minded ones sure were entertaining. However, their fun chat came to a stop as soon as they reached the entrance to what they formerly knew as the gym.

"We have arrived. Wait here until I am done." She ordered him.

"You are leaving me ALONE here?"

"You will be fine. Just stay here and mind your own business. I will be back soon." With that, she turned around and walked through the entrance, leaving poor, scared Souta all by himself.

"This sucks…" He murmured as he watched her taking her leave.

The gym had probably been the single building that had had the least changes to it compared to before. Sure, there had been crystal fortifications on the wall, but the interior itself had largely remained the same. As she walked on the platform meant for spectators to sit at, she used the chance to take a look at the lower area, where she spotted the person she was looking for.

The young man in question stood in front of a small group of people who looked like they had just been put into the white uniform they were wearing. They had even been missing the glasses yet. She wondered if those were new initiates for Da'ath. There were about 15 of them, not counting the blond haired man who she knew to be the envoy of Da'ath. He had his back turned towards her as he addressed the newcomers with high held arms.

"Greetings, warriors of Eve. You have been chosen to enter the ranks of Da'ath. The organization that shall lead humanity into prosperity and happiness with the help of Adam and Eve. Are there any questions?" He spoke in a calm and approachable way.

"Does that mean we will get to stay away from the other Mananites?" One of them asked nervously.

"While it is possible that your fellow comrades will wander around this former school, they will be rather few and should not bother you in any way."

"So we don't have to fight anymore?"

"No, your task will be more fitting according to your skills. It will also be very important, which is why I selected you all personally for this."

"Speaking of which, what is it that we have to do in here?"

"Ah, you will soon understand. But in order for me to explain it, you will first have to present me your voids." Yuu replied with a smile.

The group of initiates eyed each other suspiciously, but eventually decided to comply. Each of them summoning their voids one after another. Arisa was surprised to learn that all these voids looked rather unspectacular. She spotted a pen, a bottle, a paper fan and various other minor gadgets among them. She didn't know about their effects, but unless they had some really amazing powers, she doubted that these voids would have exceeded rank D on the old void ranking scale. Even more the reason to wonder what Yuu had in mind for them. She continued to watch them with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, yes. Beautiful. This should work splendidly." Yuu declared after seeing all the voids before him. He nodded approvingly and with closed eyes as he envisioned whatever it was that he planned to do.

"Please don't mock us, sir. We are all aware that these voids are useless."

This caused the envoy to open his eyes in wonder. "Useless? Nonsense. What makes you believe that?"

"You can't really do anything with them…"

But Yuu only chuckled and waved the statement off with a dismissive hand gesture. "And that's where you are wrong, my naïve, little peasant. Voids on their own are interesting, sure. But their real purpose lies in the fact that you can combine them. This is also the fundamental difference between the common folk who can only use their own void, and a king who can take them all. Where your voids lack strength, a king can always find a way to make use of them. Allow me to demonstrate."

He then commenced to walk over to the first newbie and took his void in his hand. After examining it carefully, he took a look around the other voids before eventually settling for one and merging them together into a glowing sphere of silver threads, dancing around through the large hall. He continued to do this with the other voids, sometimes taking one, but handing it right back only to take a different one instead.

To Arisa it looked like he was following some kind of system she couldn't understand. Especially since he seemed to see things she couldn't, since he kept mumbling stuff like "Yes, that works…" or "No, this one comes later…" as he continued to do his work. Eventually though, he used up all the voids and ended up with a large, glowing sphere in his hands.

"Yes, this should do it. Behold the new void I created using your voids. This is what it means to be a king!" He excitedly declared as he let go of the orb and it started to manifest itself on the ground before him. Once it had finished constructing, it revealed itself to be a rather largely sized power generator. The group stood and stared in awe at his creation.

Yuu quickly ordered two other Da'ath members Arisa hadn't noticed before to plug in a large cable into the generator. Once they had achieved that feat, the building, previously only lit by a couple of small searchlights on the ground, suddenly lit up with all gym lights shining in all their glory. As the initiates let out sounds of awe, Yuu merely allowed himself to nod proudly at his own good work.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Your job will be to keep this thing running, which shouldn't be too hard. Just stay in the area and look after it every once in a while. The important thing is really to just stay alive and not call your own void back, or the bigger void would collapse. You think you are up for that?" The envoy asked them with a smirk.

"T-That's all? Sure thing. You can count on us, boss. What should we do when Mana calls us, though?"

"Don't worry too much about Eve, she is busy enough with her own work. If she ever needs something from her commoners, I will find others to do the work." He explained with a shrug and turned around to leave. "Do not disappoint me with this job. I would hate to look for replacements…"

"Yes, sir!"

That was the time Yuu finally realized that Arisa had been watching him. It didn't take him long before he vanished from her view, only to reappear next to her, where he offered her a polite smile and bow as his greetings.

"Good evening, Miss Kuhouin. You didn't have to go through the trouble to come here in person. I could have always visited you wherever you wished."

Arisa, however, only responded with folded arms and a cold stare. "I doubt that, considering the last time I asked you to do something, you ended up ignoring my request and doing whatever you pleased instead. I figured I ought to come in person and see for myself that you were still acting in both our interest and not only your own."

"With all due respect, Miss Kuhouin." Yuu started as he began levitating in the air in what looked like a comfortable leaning position, arms folded in front of him. "Our agreement states that Da'ath will do anything in their might to use the Kuhouin family funds to increase your company's capital as well as reach the goal of bringing the apocalypse. That involved the resurrection of Tsutsugami Gai and Mana Ouma. Last time I checked, both individuals are alive and the Kuhouin group is doing well considering its profits, so as far as Da'ath is considered, we have fulfilled our end of the bargain."

She narrowed her eyes on him. "While that is true, I fail to see how hat excuses the fact that you ignored my request to eliminate Ouma Shu the moment you took one of his void genomes."

This caused him to lean his head against his hand as if tired of explaining stuff like this to her. "Excuse me if that may sound blunt, but you seem to be under the misconception that you bought Da'ath with your money instead of it being a partnership. While Da'ath cares about its partners deeply, they are under no obligation to take orders from them. When I said I would do my best according to the situation, I never guaranteed that I would go ahead and do it." He finished his explanation with a sigh.

"Care to tell me what reasoning you had to deny my request, then?"

He shrugged as he shook his head. "Killing Ouma Shu would be such a waste, really."

The blond woman gritted her teeth. "A waste? Pardon me if I am wrong, but wasn't he the very reason you failed the last two times you tried to bring the apocalypse?"

Now Yuu was giving her a smirk. "Exactly." This caused her to stare at him in utter confusion, which he took as a sign that further explanation was in order. But this time, he seemed to be far more motivated to enlighten her.

"Ouma Shu is a very interesting individual. Not only had he been chosen by Eve and refused her, he even managed to stop her from bringing the apocalypse. Even after he had been dethroned once, he had managed to regain his power and had fought on. It is amazing, really. And whenever I think he has reached a point in which he couldn't surpass himself anymore, he just goes ahead and does it. Did you know, that Inori Yuzuriha, a fake only meant to harbor Mana's soul, has now developed her own Eve powers, despite not being Eve? And furthermore, she TOO, chose Ouma Shu as her king. To have two Eves exist at the same time is already astonishing. But for them both to choose the same Adam? Mustn't that mean something? Wouldn't you agree?" He excitedly asked her.

"Maybe. Or maybe you are just putting too much thought into it. One is clearly insane, while the other is a mindless doll. I wouldn't say they should have the best judgment and/or taste considering that matter." She answered rationally and coldly, which made the envoy in front of her chuckle.

"Ah, so you think Tsutsugami Gai is the superior candidate?"

Without even the slightest bit of hesitation, she answered: "Of course."

"Interesting. Please explain why." He urged her to go on with a swift motion of his left hand.

"Does it really need any explanation? Wasn't it you who made sure he would be the best suitable replacement?"

"Oh, so you know of Keido's little project back in the days…" Yuu gave himself amazed. He liked people who did their homework beforehand. "Then you probably also know that Gai, even though, a test subject with high potential, eventually fled the facility before the research was finished. Not only that, but he also failed once already after facing off against Ouma Shu. He also isn't Eve's first choice…" He argued.

"That is irrelevant because Ouma Shu is only versed in the act of ruining things. The sole reason why he kept preventing the apocalypse is because he exceeds in prevention. He couldn't be king even if he tried. Gai can. If you need proof, then look at the Undertakers. A group he created and made successful. The same group got nearly annihilated only a short time afterwards right after Shu assumed control of it. When Gai took the lead as Adam, he managed to hold back the world and only got stopped in the last second because Ouma Shu was there to do what he can do best. To throw a wrench in the works."

"Maybe so, but that could also be used as an argument why Shu is simply more capable than Gai. If a man can hold off the world but eventually gets overthrown by a single other man, doesn't it prove that said man is stronger? It doesn't really matter by what means he defeated him, does it? After all, isn't it survival of the fittest?"

Arisa looked at him with disapproval. "So what is it you are saying? That you never planned to let Gai be Adam again in the first place?"

The envoy merely shook his head with a small smile. "Not at all. If Eve chooses him, then he shall be Adam. Da'ath doesn't show favoritism. They are just the helping hand to make things happen. All I did was try to explain to you why Ouma Shu will not be killed unless it can't be helped. It would simply be a waste to kill off a possible candidate. Especially if he shows so much potential. "

"If you don't show favoritism, why has Gai still not received the void genome from you?" She wanted to know.

"That has nothing to do with me not wanting to give it to him. It has more to do with the fact that I would rather hate losing an arm just to pass up one of the crowns." He explained with a smirk as he used his left hand to simulate a chopping move on his right arm, right below the shoulder. "Since I unfortunately already went through my evolution when I entered the void realm to free Eve and her vassals, I could not do it again to let it grow back. And not everyone can claim to have an arm for a void, like Ouma Shu does."

"Are you even trying to find a way, then? Looks to me like you are far more busy creating new toys to play with." She glanced into the direction of the newly created void generator, then back at Yuu, who only took it with a nonchalant shrug.

"I must apologize for saying this, but you are quite an ignorant woman when you think that generator is but a mere toy. In less than ten minutes, I have created a powerful void that can create power by gathering the small amounts of genomic resonance emitted by every void around it and converting it into electricity. This basic one already creates enough power to supply this whole base. And once I find additional compatible voids, I could upgrade it into one that could provide loop seven with energy as a whole. Add more voids and it could sustain Tokyo. Continue the thought. Japan, Asia, the northern hemisphere, and eventually: the world." He grinned excitedly as he formed a huge imaginary planet with his two hands.

"I see…so Da'ath is already planning ways to make a lot of money for a world after the apocalypse." Arisa concluded. To her surprise, however, Yuu reverted back into his bored stance, leaning back and appearing disinterested. He and her were apparently not really seeing this the same way.

"Money? I don't care about money. What I want to see is humanity to progress. Evolution is already a huge step forward, but why stop there? Just imagine how much humanity could further improve if they would no longer need to worry about energy sources. To stop relying on environment endangering fossil fuels. To scrap the inefficient sustainable energy sources. In one simple step, the whole energy problem would be solved and make room to think about new, more interesting technologies. I can't wait to see that world."

The blonde woman watched him as he probably imagined his ideal world right in front of his closed eyes. While she had to admit that the thought was interesting, she also was aware of the fact that there were more pressing matters to deal with than what plans Yuu had in store for the distant future. Especially after he had made it obvious that Da'ath didn't care who brought the apocalypse as long as someone eventually did. A thought that made her shudder. To her, it should be Gai and Gai alone. To envision anyone else leading humankind was madness in her eyes. She would have to do her best to support Gai in any way possible.

"I would appreciate it if you could find a way to give Gai the void genome soon. If necessary, I will prepare the funds to create a new one from scratch."

"We considered that option, but the manufacturing process of a single genome is already very difficult and takes a lot of time. Why else do you suppose only 3 exist? In our current situation, we can't really afford to spend time and resources on a new void genome." He told her as he leaned back again with folded arms.

"Then what about making him kill Shu and getting the last one from him?"

"That might work, though it would be highly unlikely for him to overpower Shu without a genome for himself. Especially since Shu will likely have a fake Eve at his side to aid him."

"So are you telling me there is no way?" Yuu could tell the woman was clearly getting frustrated with him, so with an annoyed sigh he replied:

"No, there is always a way. I have already proposed a plan to Da'ath. I am actually just waiting for their OK to put the gears into motion. We will just have to be a bit patient." He tried to finally shut her up. Unfortunately, the mention of a plan did not cause her to back off in satisfaction, but rather to press him with further questions to satisfy her curiosity.

"What plan?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

At this point, even a patient man like Yuu was visibly reaching his limits. He had long since lost the interest at speaking to her, already wishing he could have used to time to do other more useful or at least interesting things. He was also growing tired since it was getting late at night rather than evening. Furthermore, he believed that he had answered enough of her questions for one day, so he simply answered her with a heavy sigh:

"I cannot give you any details, since nothing has been set in stone yet. There really is no point discussing it with you when the plan might change the next day anyway. Like I said: Be patient and I will come back to you to give you more information. Now, if you would please excuse me, even an envoy must call it a day some time. Surely you must be tired as well?"

The young woman was clearly dissatisfied over the envoy's retreat, but could not come up with a reason to hold him off any longer. It HAD been getting late and after all, she, too, couldn't afford stay up all night. So eventually she had to give up and let him go for now.

"Very well, I shall leave as well, then. Thanks for your time." She said with a small bow, more out of routine than out of sincerity. The envoy mimicked her movement. And with that, they finally went their separate ways.

"I can't believe this guy, getting all excited because of Shu…" Arisa mumbled to herself as she left the gym the same way she entered. Frustration visibly gnawed on her at least as badly as she did on her right thumb's nail. "I need to convince him that Gai is the better candidate, but how…?"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Souta's and a couple of other voices from afar. Looking around, she realized that said man had strayed from the place she had originally left him at. Wondering what the ruckus was about, she decided to follow the noise, only to spot her assistant surrounded by familiar looking people. From around the corner, she decided to watch what this commotion was about.

"Look, guys. If it ain't a familiar face from the past." One of the four people said. Arisa didn't need long to recognize the voice and looks of said man to realize it was Hirohide Nanba. The man she had once used to overthrow Shu 5 years ago. She backed off a bit in shock of seeing him again, having thought she had seen the last of him for good. But even though her mind told her that it would have been smarter to distance herself from that man, she also felt like she couldn't leave this place without Souta, whom she had dragged here against his will in the first place.

"Damnit, Souta. What did you get yourself into this time…" She whispered angrily while continuing to observe the scene.

"I was wondering where this stench of F rank came from…" The man with reddish brown hair next to Nanba added with a smirk. "Now we know…"

"How can you assholes still be alive…? This is impossible…I saw you die with my own eyes!" Souta mumbled disbelievingly as he backed off against a wall.

"Oi, oi. Did you hear that, Nanba? He had the nerve to call us assholes." Ritsu said angrily as she readied her electro shocker-esque void. The black haired girl next to her nodded in agreement and adjusted her glasses.

"Unforgivable."

Sudou took the opportunity to take a hold of Souta's collar with his left hand and raised his other, free fist. "Hey, Nanba. Let's teach him a lesson."

"You think I am afraid of you punks?" Souta yelled as he spit his aggressor into the face. "You hold no more power over me. Screw the ranking system and screw you guys!"

"Argh, now you have done it you little…" He groaned in annoyance and was about to hit Souta in the face when Nanba stopped him.

"Wait, Sudou." He asked of his friend calmly. Much to his surprise.

"Why?"

"You will damage the goods he is carrying…" He forcibly took the scarf and coat Souta was holding onto and handed them over to the two girls of the group after realizing that those were female clothes and he had no use for them anyway. He did so with both hands, indicating that he must have died once more in the void realm in order to restore his hand after Shu had severed it there.

"Ah, we can have them? Thanks a bunch, Nanba. They sure are comfortable." Ritsu said with a huge grin, now wearing Arisa's expensive coat. Even Miyabi agreed while wrapping her exposed neck with the scarf she just acquired.

"Who said you could have them, you damn…" Souta started to say, but was cut off by a heavy punch of Sudou's right fist. To tell you the truth, he didn't even know what had hit him at first. His mind was telling him he had been hit by a fist, but the pain he felt clearly told him he had been hit with a hard object like a crowbar. He was surprised he even managed to regain his balance instead of going down.

"What is it, F rank? You like that? There is more where that came from."

"Don't…fuck with me…!" Souta grumbled and tried to fight back, only to get overwhelmed by extreme pain from his back. Ritsu had finally made use of her elektro shocker. This time, he clearly felt his muscles failing him. He looked back at her and said: "Bitch…not yours…give back."

Arisa held her hand in front of her mouth to stop herself from letting out a shocked gasp. Were they going to kill him? Shaking her head in disbelief, she cursed Souta for his stupidity. "Don't get worked up because of some stupid clothes, idiot. I can always buy new ones!" She thought.

He was forced to go down to his knees, where he met Nanba's shoe as he kicked him in the face. He then kneeled down next to him and pulled him up by his hair to make him look at him. "Will you shut up already? Why do you have these in the first place, huh?"

Souta, however, didn't reply anymore, probably using up all his remaining strength to remain conscious. Losing his interest in him, Nanba decided to take another look at the clothes instead. He took the loose end of Miyabi's new scarf and felt it in his hand.

"Wait a minute…something about this is familiar." He mumbled

"You think so? It's just an expensive scarf, if you asked me." Sudou mentioned with a shrug.

"It's not the scarf, but rather…" He put the fabric closer to his nose. "The smell? Yeah, I am certain I have smelled this before." He explained calmly.

Upon hearing him say that, Arisa felt her hair stand on end from disgust. She gritted her teeth in frustration once memories of her past with him involuntarily found their way into her mind. If only money could erase those memories. She would be willing to pay any price.

"Is that so? Must have belonged to someone you knew then, huh?" Ritsu deducted.

"Anyway, what do we do with this loser?" Sudou wanted to know as he kicked Souta once more, earning only a soft "Urgh" from him in return.

Nanba gave the girls a look as if he asked them "Do you want him?", but once he saw them both either shrug or shaking their heads in disinterest, he, too shrugged and told Sudou:

"I don't care. Do with him whatever you want."

His friend replied to that with a satisfied laugh. "Alright! If I remember correctly, that punk was one of that darn void prince's little friends, though even he treated him like shit. Guess no one in this world can stand useless fuckers like him. I might as well put him out of his misery, then. Man, ain't I quite the kind man?"

Hearing that, Arisa's eyes widened. This wasn't happening! She had to stop them. Before she knew it, she came out from her hiding place and drew a hidden knife from her sleeve, which she had kept there for emergencies. Throwing it at Sudou, the excellently crafted blade flew straight through the air and hit him right in the shoulder, making him scream from shock and agony. Now the thugs' center of attention had shifted towards her. But though that may have saved Souta's life, it also caused a new problem to arise. How was she going to save herself?

It only took a moment for them to recognize her. And from the smirk that immediately appeared on Nanba's face, she wondered if she really had made the right decision.

"So that's what it was. I KNEW the smell was familiar. It's so nice to meet you again, Arisa." He said as he and the girls slowly approached her. She knew she couldn't run away anymore, so she firmly stood her ground, not granting her enemies the joy of seeing how intimidating they truly were. In the meantime, Sudou pulled out the knife and threw it at her. It crashed into the ground right next to her feet with so much force that it looked like it was stuck in there for good. It had happened so fast that she didn't even have time to flinch, which had probably been for the better.

"I wish I could say the same about you…" She merely replied to him.

The brown haired man with glasses put his right hand on his chest, acting as if her words had actually hurt him. "Ouch. That hurt. And after all the fun times we had together in this school."

"To think mere imbeciles like you would actually survive the process of evolution…"

This time it was Ritsu who decided to speak, visibly angered. "You have quite some nerve talking shit at us after the stunt you pulled, whore."

"Yeah, don't think we have forgotten your double crossing, you little bitch." Sudou agreed as he held his still bleeding shoulder.

"You deserved nothing less, after all. You were all just the same kind of scum Shu was. Vermin should just die." She said harshly and gave them a look colder as ice.

That was the moment she felt Nanba grabbing her by the throat and pinning her against a nearby wall in a clean, swift motion. The force of the impact alone nearly caused her to pass out, let alone the fact that breathing had just become a whole lot harder with the man's firm grip around her neck.

"Funny you would say that, because I agree completely." He told her with a devilish smirk. "Vermin like you should just die. And believe me, die you will. But you see, thanks to you, we ended up in a strange realm in which we were forced to fight a war that didn't concern us for five long years. As far as I am concerned, I believe you should take responsibility, dear student council president. So here is what we will do: First, you and I will spend some quality time together, just like in the good old days. After we are done, our good friend Sudou, will certainly be eager to have a go as well." He grinned and pointed towards his best friend next to him with his free hand. The man in question chuckled evilly. "After that, we will pull your sorry ass out there into loop seven and ask ALL our dear friends if they would like to have their way with you. If, by any chance, you were to still be alive after that, so help me god, I will let the girls have the rest of you. Believe me when I tell you that they can be quite creative when it comes down to inflicting pain on someone."

Arisa heard them all chuckle mischievously while they watched her struggling against Nanba's unwavering grip in vain. In her mind, she cursed them. She wished anyone was around to help her out, but to her disappointment, no one was. How ironic for her to be all alone now when only a little while ago, Da'ath members had practically swarmed around her. But then again, it probably wasn't all that surprising that hardly anyone was still around at this hour, especially near the gym, which hadn't exactly been the center of activity as of late.

Or maybe not, for in that very same moment, someone actually managed to stumble upon them. And luckily, it wasn't just anybody.

"Release her, Nanba." The newcomer said. Standing tall and strong, he pointed a void rifle at them and glared at them with a very serious expression. This guy meant business, that was for sure.

The small group of Mananites looked over to him and returned the glare he was giving them.

"How about you go fuck yourself, Gai?" Nanba, still holding Arisa hostage, made a small nudge with his head into the ex-king's direction and his three friends immediately readied their voids and assumed a battle posture in front of him. "We will get to you eventually as well. Don't think we have forgotten who it was who sent us to the void realm in the first place."

"I would obey if I were you. I can make life fairly unpleasant for you all, should you decide to make me your enemy." He warned them.

"Oh, guys, did you hear that? Mister wannabe king here thinks he can order us around." Nanba merely replied with a smirk.

"Joke of the century." The redheaded man in front of him remarked.

"Ridiculous." Miyabi added.

"Just keep walking, blondie. 'less you would like to wind up dead." The last of the group eventually said with a serious expression.

Gai sighed. "I suppose I will have to do that."

"That's right, asshole. Move along." Sudou laughed.

"Guess Mana won't be happy to hear that you four were trash talking her."

That caused the four of them to actually look at him rather dumbfounded. What was he even talking about?

"Dude, are you high?" The man with the piercings asked with a raised eye brow.

"Yeah, no one even lost a word about Mana." Ritsu agreed.

"'As I took a stroll through the school grounds, I walked into Hirohide Nanba, Takaomi Sudou, Takarata Ritsu and Herikawa Miyabi where I overheard their conversation about how fed up they were with their queen and how it was high time she were to finally kick the bucket. They also mentioned defecting to their old queen, Inori. Deeply concerned because of these words, I decided to inform you immediately, Mana.', is what I am going to tell her." He replied coldly and with a smirk, clearly enjoying the nervous expressions the people in front of him were giving him now.

"You bastard made that up just now! There never was a conversation like that!" Sudou roared in anger.

"It is a baseless lie, you have no proof." Miyabi retorted.

"Guys, this is Mana we are talking about…she doesn't need any proof…" The brown haired girl next to them told them with a nervous gulp.

"You have a point…hey, Nanba, maybe we should back off for now?" Sudou suggested, to which Nanba could only grit his teeth in anger. He didn't release Arisa, though.

"Nanba?" This time it was Miyabi who tried to convince him. He looked even more frustrated. But only once Sudou put a hand on the brown haired man's shoulder was it that he finally snapped out of his anger and returned to be his rational self.

"Tch, it appears today is your lucky day, _president_." He growled into Arisa's direction before violently throwing her into Gai's direction. "Here, have your wench. We are leaving." The moment he said that, his three friends gladly followed him as he walked away.

"I believe you still have something that you ought to return."

That made Nanba stop on his tracks, firsts clenched to the max from anger. Ritsu and Miyabi frowned and were about to return the garments when Nanba suddenly stopped them and turned halfway around to face Gai again.

Readjusting his glasses, he said: "Don't push your luck, Gai. 'less you might find a knife in your back during the next battle we fight together. You would not see it coming and it would seem like it was caused by the enemy with Mana none the wiser. The clothes are property of the girls in my group. Take them from them and we might be forced to march through loop seven and find someone with a void capable of bringing us past the military barrier. There we might find a way into the prez' house and kill her in her sleep, followed by taking back what was ours. You catch my drift?"

The ex-king narrowed his eyes in anger. "Get out of my sight."

"This isn't over. Mana won't always be there to protect you. We will get to that bitch eventually." he pointed at Arisa who was still lying in the ground, coughing. "And you as well. Mark my words…" And with that, they finally left. Allowing Arisa to finally sigh in relief after she had managed to catch her breath again.

"Are you alright?" Gai asked as he knelt next to her. She coughed a few more times, but eventually nodded.

"Yes, thank you. But more importantly…" Her gaze shifted towards Souta, who now lied motionless on the floor not far from them. Gai helped the blonde woman up and together they went over to his side. Once he had examined the young man's wounds his expression turned slightly grim.

"He has lost consciousness. No way to tell for sure, but I think they broke a few rips. The heavy swelling on his face needs to be taken care of as well. His condition isn't critical, but he will need medical attention as soon as possible." He explained to her.

"I see." Her gaze dropped out of guilt. "It's my fault."

"What makes you think that?"

"I shouldn't have brought him with me, but I didn't want to come alone. I was selfish."

He pulled a crystal clump out of his pocket and spoke into it. "This is Gai speaking. I need someone with a void capable of healing at Tennozu, near the gym. The faster, the better." He then tucked it away again, followed by eying Arisa.

"If you are at fault simply for coming here, I suppose I should be at fault for not having these punks under control properly. Or Mana for not keeping an eye over her subordinates. Or the voids which turned them this way. Could also be their parents for giving birth to them in the first place."

"But that's…"

"Bad things happen to all of us. Sometimes you just can't change it."

"I suppose…"

She was surprised to see him smile at her. "You have changed, Arisa."

"Huh? H-how so?"

"The old you would not have taken the risk to save that man. Not with your own life on the line. Instead, you would have been paralyzed by fear. You probably wouldn't even have come here in the first place." He concluded with closed eyes and his hand on his chin.

This, apparently, got her rather angry. "Don't make fun of a Kuhouin. We are no cowards!"

He chuckled. "That's right. You aren't a coward anymore, Arisa. You have grown a lot."

Her anger turned into embarrassment which caused her to avoid his gaze. "You are still the same, though." Not that she minded that.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone approaching them. Turning towards the source of the noise, they noticed a tall, middle aged black man coming their way. He wore a thick, dark green winter jacket with a white shirt underneath and dark grey pants which looked like they would keep him warm enough during these cold winter days. On his head he wore a black wool hat and a beige colored scarf adorned his neck.

Arisa wondered who the man might be, but figured she would soon find out once Gai greeted him with a smile.

"Ah, Tarone. Did you hear my request?"

The man pointed at the necklace he was wearing, where a nicely polished crystal was attached to it. There was no doubt that he had used it to hear Gai's voice with.

"Sure did." He answered with a deep, serious voice. The way he sounded, and the fact that he had a short beard, made him appear to be in his mid-thirties, but given the fact that he already had gone through evolution, it might have been possible that his actual age might not have matched his visual appearance anymore, or at least not the one normal people would be used to. "What do you need?"

"This way, please." Gai stepped aside and pointed towards the unconscious Souta.

"I see." He mumbled and was about to step forward, only to stop halfway once he noticed Arisa. For some reason, his eyes were locked on her and the longer he kept staring at her, the more she grew uncomfortable.

"What is it?"

He said nothing. Only came closer, still staring at her with his sharp, analyzing eyes. Then he raised his right hand towards his chest and released his void, which seemed to be a simple pocket watch. When he then proceeded to reach out towards her, she couldn't help but instinctively step back warily.

"Relax, he knows what he is doing." Gai assured her, which made her calm down a little. The man called Tarone then examined her neck, where Nanba had strangled her only moments prior. Naturally it had left a red mark, and also hurt a little, but was nothing she couldn't handle.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Please take a look at the man over…"

"Revert. 7 minutes, 37 seconds." He cut her off. The pocket watch in his hand then started glowing and its hands started to spin back by exactly the amount of time he had mentioned earlier. The marks on Arisa's neck slowly vanished the more the clock spun in reverse. Eventually, they were gone completely. But as soon as the healing was done and the watch stopped glowing, she stared at the man in front of her with wide open eyes and stepped back, looking awfully confused.

"W-who are you? What did you do?" She checked her surroundings as if she couldn't understand what was going on around her. "Where did these imbecilles go? Huh, Gai? What are you doing here?"

Terone for his part paid her no heed anymore. Considering his job done, he stepped away from her and went over to Souta without another world. It was Gai who eventually calmed her down and explained to her that Terone's void was one that could manipulate time to a certain degree. When he had healed her, he had not actually 'healed' her, but reverted her body to a previous state, meaning that the injuries received during that timeframe had vanished as if they had never existed, but naturally, that also meant that her memories from that time period had disappeared as well.

While Gai was telling her what had actually occurred during the 7 minutes and 37 seconds she was now effectively missing, Terone was quietly doing the same to Souta.

"Revert. 11 minutes, 3 seconds."

The young head of the Kuhouin group stared in awe as she saw Souta's wounds heal. Only then did she begin to truly comprehend what had happened to her just now.

"But how does he know how much time he needs to revert?" She wondered.

"When using his void, he can see the past of everything he touches. That way, he can tell how much he needs to go back. It has limits, though." The ex-king next to her explained while they both watched.

"Amazing…"

"They call him the wraith of time."

"I get the time part, obviously, but why a wraith? He doesn't seem very…" She tried to retort, but had to realize the black man had suddenly vanished into thin air. "…Huh? Where did he go?"

Gai chuckled. "He stopped time and left. He can do that, too. That's probably why he was able to arrive this quickly in the first place. Most of the people he heals also forget who he was if they haven't known him beforehand. Since they only see him for a brief second before he vanishes again, he is called a wraith."

"Ah, I didn't even get to thank him…"

"I don't think he cares about that. If he did, he would stick around long enough for people to thank him. More importantly, let's see how the guy he healed is doing."

The walked over to Souta, who was still lying on the ground, though not anymore out of unconsciousness, but rather because he was sound asleep, snoring away without a single care in the world. There was even drool coming out of his mouth.

"…I can't believe I was even worried about him." Squatting next to him and letting her head rest on both her hands, Arisa watched him sleep with a bored expression. "Just look at him, with that stupid face he is making. Bet he is dreaming about some women again."

"You sound as if it bothered you." The ex-king tried to tease her.

"Not really. That's just the way he is, I guess." She told him with a sigh before turning towards him with a small smirk. "By the way, you saved me again. How am I ever going to repay such kindness?"

He, however, merely bowed politely and replied: "Your constant support within Da'ath is more than I could have ever asked for, Milady.", earning him another sigh.

"Really, even though we both know there has been more behind my support than mere friendship. I am sure you must have noticed, Gai." She told him with knowing eyes, causing him to avert his eyes. "Other women would feel quite annoyed if they knew the men they liked would notice their approaches and still act ignorant about it in their company, you know."

"My, haven't you become quite bold, Arisa?" He told her with a crooked grin as he watched her slowly approaching him with her arms nonchalantly folded behind her back.

"Becoming the head of a big company will do that to you. You will have to know what it is you want. And once you know it, do everything in your might to take it. Which is basically what I am doing right now and have been doing ever since I learned that you weren't dead." Upon reaching him, she looked him straight in the eyes and told him with a seductive smile: "In other words: I want you to be mine."

Gai found himself to be caught off guard. He always had been aware on her crush on him, even all those years ago when she had just joined Da'ath. If he had to be honest, it had been too obvious to not notice. How easily she had betrayed the whole student body as soon as his name had fallen, how willingly she had joined a cult obsessed with ending the world, just because he had been a part of it and the looks she would always give him when he had been in the same room with her…he would have had to be a fool to not notice it, really. And yet, he had always acted as if he hadn't known because he simply had had no interest in her. The sole reason as to why he hadn't even dared to downright reject her, was because he had still been in need of her influence. And even more so now, after she had become the leader of the Kuhouin group and a major money source for Da'ath, which happened to be his benefactor.

In other words, he had been using her. And it had been working well as long as she had been her old passive self. All he had had to do in the past was to play along and throw her a bone or two every once in a while to still keep her interested. But all of a sudden, this woman turned the tables on him, now going on the full offense all of a sudden. Had he seen that coming? Hell no. But did that mean he would let her get to him? Not without a fight!

Clearing his throat, he said: "I am deeply flattered, but…" To his surprise, he found his lips sealed by her index finger, pressed gently against them.

"I know. Mana is the one you want. And you know what? I will let you have her. I don't care." He heard her say with a smirk. Knowing it had been futile to even try to hide his confusion at this point, he didn't even try anymore.

"…What?"

She shrugged. "You heard me. Let her be your queen, if you want to. I am not interested in that title anyway. What I really want, is you. I won't be jealous of a woman who wouldn't even look your way anyway. I will let you chase after her until you finally grow tired of it. And then I will be there to wipe away the tears you will shed out of a broken heart."

"That sounds more like a plan you should have kept to yourself. Aren't you getting quite full of yourself for revealing it to me?"

She shrugged. "Maybe that would have been the case if Mana was an actual competition. But I doubt I really have to worry about losing to her when it's clear as day that she is simply oblivious regarding your feelings. You are a strong man, Tsutsugami Gai, but not even you will be able to withstand the pain of rejection forever. Don't worry, though. No matter how much you decide to hurt yourself by chasing after her. I will always be here to heal the wounds you inflict on yourself, you foolish, foolish king." She told him with a confident chuckle.

Gai gulped. What the hell was going on? Who WAS that woman in front of him? How could she have changed so much? To look down on him…even as much as to call him foolish? This sudden change in character…no…it couldn't be…

"Are you…are you trying to become more like Mana?" He managed to finally ask. But contrary to his expectations, she didn't revert back to her old self and hid her face in shame due to him seeing through her. No, her smirk even appeared to add another layer of confidence, if that was even still possible.

"My, my, Tsutsugami Gai. For you to see the women you love in me. Could it be you are already falling for me?"

"Impossible…!" …is what he would have liked to believe. But the truth was, that he could clearly see it. True, she had not been as dominant as Mana, nor was she as obsessed with him as Mana had been with Shu, or else she wouldn't even have considered letting Mana become queen instead of her, but the similarities were there. And he hated to admit it, but she was now totally his type. How could she not be when she acted so similar, minus the tiny bit of madness that lingered around the pink haired queen?

No…perhaps the madness was there as well. After all, what sane person would even attempt to assume a different personality? And who would even succeed after 5 mere years?

If that was the case…didn't she have a point? His attempts to win Mana's heart over had been futile for a very long time now. And here someone similar was who already claimed to love him. Maybe he really should stop fooling himself and…

" _Triton…_ " All of a sudden, he heard Mana's voice in his head. He didn't need long to realize that she was sending her thoughts to him via the crystal crumb he was carrying with him in his pocket. Without hesitation, he pulled it out and answered her, much to Arisa's confusion, who couldn't hear anything.

"Yes?"

" _I am lonely…_ " She sounded sad, he thought. _"Could you come to me?"_

"I am on my way." He answered immediately and put the crystal away. Suddenly he felt the need to laugh at his stupid thoughts earlier. What was he even thinking? Just how long had he been in love with that girl now? Hadn't he vowed to free her of the Eve curse and stay at her side forever? And then he thought he could throw it all away and fall in love with someone who tried to be like her? He must have lost his mind there for a second. He truly was a foolish, foolish (ex-)king.

"I am sorry, Arisa. I have to go." He eventually told her. But she just smiled in return.

"It was her, wasn't it?"

"…yeah." He told her truthfully with a nod. "I am really sorry."

A sigh escaped her lips. "And just what are you apologizing for? I told you it was fine, didn't I? I will let you chase her until you grow tired of it. I can wait."

"Thanks for understanding." He bowed to her in respect and turned around to leave. He was about to go, when he decided that there was still something on his mind that he felt the need to tell her.

"If I may make a suggestion: You should stop trying to become like Mana and try looking for love somewhere else. I am sure there are enough men out there who would accept you the way you are."

A sad smile formed on her lips. "That's just too bad, because other men are not what I want."

" _Figured as much_ …" He thought. Somehow he felt bad for her, but it was probably too late to stop her at this point. If that was the case, there was nothing he could do about it anymore. Arisa watched him as he took his leave without another word. Her eyes rested on him until he vanished into the darkness of the night, off to that crazy queen of his. Only once he was gone did she allow herself to let out a defeated sigh.

"Well, that could have gone better…, but then again, I didn't think it could possibly be that easy in the first place." She admitted to no one but herself. If love was war, she had merely started the battle just now. And knowing the stubbornness of her target, she wouldn't expect the next one to be the last one, either. Surely it was a painful and hard road ahead of her. But she was sure she would endure it. Because that was, what it meant to be a Kuhouin.

"A Kuhouin never loses." She declared. As if to protest, she heard Souta groan behind her, now apparently finally waking up.

"Why the hell am I sleeping here…? No way…did Arisa's meeting take so long?" She heard him mumble to himself as he massaged the back of his neck, which was surely aching after his nap on the hard ground. That was, however, before he came to a horrible realization.

"Crap! Where are they? Where ARE they?" Panic visibly befell him as he looked around for something he seemed to have lost. "Don't tell me someone stole the coat and scarf while I was sleeping? Oh, this is bad. This is really bad. She will make me pay for them. She definitely will! I can't go back to another month of only instant ramen…I will die!" He put both his hands on each side of his head in frustration and nearly cried just from envisioning that very possible scenario. Since his body had been restored to the time before Nanba and his thugs had attacked and taken the garments, naturally he wouldn't remember what had happened to them, or him for that matter.

He had been so worried over this, that he hadn't even noticed Arisa standing not too far away from him. As she was watching him, she had a hard time suppressing her laughter. She eventually went over to him, causing him to flinch once he noticed her.

"Ack! Arisa!"

"Is that the way to greet your boss? Wait…did you just sleep on the job?" She decided to have some fun with him and feign ignorance. Her shocked employee suddenly started to sweat really badly as he tried to laugh the matter off.

"N-no…of course not…"

"At least wipe the dried drool of your face before attempting to lie to me." She told him as she narrowed her eyes on him in a displeased manner.

"Crap!" He quickly realized his screw-up and attempted to wipe his face clean, causing her to sigh.

"Forget it. We are done here, so just hand me my coat and let's go find the guy with the teleport void again, so that we can finally leave this place."

"I agree about leaving this place wholeheartedly…your stuff, however…" She watched him scratching the back of his head nervously, probably trying to think about a good excuse.

"What of it…?"

"Well, let's just say that an analysis of the current situation implies that the probability of me having misplaced them is very high."

"How high?"

"Well, I wouldn't say it's 100%, but it's definitely above 99%..."

An evil smirk appeared on her face, making him flinch nervously. "You had ONE job, Souta. One job."

"Y-you know what? I had. My job is to assist you, right? Well, I will let you know that these clothes really looked bad on you and harmed your image as a flawless beauty. So I took it upon myself to do my duty and get rid of them before they would further degrade your top-class appearance." He suddenly told her with a face so serious, she nearly lost her composure and broke out into laughter, effectively killing her act.

Luckily for her, she had trained herself to withstand such behavior and managed to uphold her serious façade.

"So you are telling me you deemed my clothes unworthy of a woman of my caliber and conveniently lost them to protect my image?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" He even saluted. Somehow, an image of a dog desperately trying to not disappoint its owner entered her mind. That, finally, did it for Arisa. Not caring anymore about her cold act, she finally burst out into laughter in such a hearty way her confused employee hadn't seen her laugh in quite a long time.

"Uh, Arisa…?"

The blond woman continued to giggle and patted him on the head. "Thanks, Souta. You did good today."

"Eh…? Eh?" From the kind of face he made, he wasn't really trying to keep his confusion a secret.

She turned around and stretched her arms as if tired from work. "Ah, I guess letting loose once in a while is alright. Say, Souta. Let's go and get a drink." She suggested with a smile.

"…what? Since when were you the type to do that? And besides, Tokyo has been in lockdown for two weeks now. What do you think people have been doing all this time? You would be lucky if you even found a single bar that actually still has anything but water at this point…" Souta tried to reason with her. What was this woman thinking all of a sudden? It's not like the military would go out of their way to put booze into their supply drops.

"Don't worry about that. I am sure I must have something left at home somewhere. Come on, let's go."

He just kept staring at her as she went ahead of him as usual. "Did…something happen, Arisa? Could it be business went well today?" Was that the reason for her strange behavior? He doubted that was the case somehow, but it was always better to assume the best scenario before assuming the worst.

She came to a stop and turned around. "No…not really…" He then noticed the small signs of sadness in her eyes. Signs she tried so hard to hide that someone, who didn't know her as well as he did, would easily have missed.

" _I see, so it's the other kind of drinking, huh…_ " He realized with a frown. He then ran up to her and told her with a smirk:

"I will warn you beforehand: You won't be able to outdrink me." He declared cockily, earning a mischievous smirk from her in return.

"Hoh? Are you really challenging a Kuhouin?"

"You gotta aim high in life, no?"

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "I like your resolve. I will tell you what, if you actually manage to defeat me, I will give you a raise. How does that sound?"

Her assistant came to a halt out of shock. "Are you for fucking real? Girl, I am sorry to say this, but you are going DOWN!" He made a fist and pumped it into the air from joy as he trailed behind his boss who had gone ahead of him, slightly chuckling because of his antics.

Unbeknown to him that he and his boss would drink so much that night, that, unfortunately, none of them would even remember this conversation the coming morning, let alone who it actually was that had passed out first…


	5. A change of pace

**5\. A change of pace**

Meanwhile, Tsutsugami Gai had entered the main building, where he made his way past several guards and other Da'ath members doing…whatever it was their job was. It wasn't like he could tell that with just a glance anyway, nor did it really matter.

He didn't particularly care about them aside from the fact that they would hopefully become useful in the future. However, he had noticed for a while now that the amount of guards had risen during the last two weeks he had been here with Mana. Now that could have had many reasons, most likely an even trivial one, but his mind couldn't help but still become wary of that. He wondered, however, if his worries were truly justified or just signs of him becoming paranoid, Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought with a heavy sigh. It was far too late that night to actually be thinking about stuff like this. Besides, he had been summoned by Mana, so getting to her had naturally had ranked higher on his lists of priorities than thinking about the amount of guards posted around her. Though it would probably not hurt to keep it in mind, just in case.

His feet eventually brought him to a room that had once been some kind of garden. Maybe for some kind of gardening club, or just a small spot for the students to retreat to during recess. He wouldn't truly know, since he hadn't been a student here. But Mana, for some reason, really seemed to be attached to this place and thus was found in here most of the time. That was also the reason why he hadn't even bothered to ask for her location in the first place.

He opened the door quietly and entered. And sure enough, no one else but Mana was to be found on the round platform in the middle of the garden. When they had found it two weeks ago, it had naturally been deserted, with nothing left but withered plants and dirt, thanks to the absence of people to look after them. And since Mana had looked so upset to see this garden in its abandoned state, he had gone out of his way to find someone with a void suitable to restore it to its former glory. Now, revived and taken care of, it looked as good again as it had once been, if not even better. Not that he would know, though. He figured he would let Mana be the judge of that. And as far as he could tell by her frequent visits, she was probably pleased with it.

But even so…he couldn't understand for the life of him, why she would always look so sad whenever she were in here.

"You wanted to see me, Mana?" He said as he slowly descended to the lower platform she was at.

"Join me, Triton." She requested, pointing at the empty space in front of her. She had barely bothered to look up at him. Without a doubt, she was in a rather bad mood again, but he had figured that already from the way her voice had sounded over the crystal connection he had shared with her earlier.

Silently, he made his way over to her and took a seat in front of her, just as she had asked him to.

"Is this okay…?" he inquired.

She shook her head. "Closer."

He obliged.

"More."

Again, he obeyed without hesitation, slightly curious what it was that she had been after.

"Hold me."

This caused him to frown suspiciously. It was not that he opposed the idea, he was probably even the last man in the world who would deny her request, but where did it come from? This was so…unlike Mana. "Mana?"

"Just do it…" She weakly repeated the order and he did as he was told, quietly embracing her in his arms. He had no idea what this was about, but he figured he might as well enjoy this rare chance to witness Mana's more fragile side. He heard her utter a relieved sigh as she seemingly enjoyed the hug.

"You know, I really love this place. But I also hate it. Do you know why?" she told him with a small smile on her lips.

"Tell me."

"It's because Shu and I were once here, right in the same position we are right now."

He raised a brow in confusion. "But that can hardly be…unless you would mean…"

"You are right, it can't. Because although I was here, I was also not. And although I heard Shu open his heart in front of me, those words were not meant for me, but for her."

He closed his eyes understandingly. "So that's what it was." That had been the reason why she came here so often and why she had left this place completely untouched by her crystals, as if to preserve this place like it had been in her memory. Her last memory of Shu actually being close to her, though not actually her, but Inori.

"It's painful, Triton. To get replaced by a fake. Here I remember him looking at her with these kind, brown eyes of his and then, when in front of me, the very same eyes become cold, almost hateful. Tell me, Triton. Was it my fault things turned out like this?"

He gave it some serious thought and eventually shook his head slowly. "No…if it was anyone's fault. It was mine. If I hadn't released Inori that day…if she had never been allowed to live her own live, to meet Shu and fall in love with him…then things could have turned out differently." He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Resent me, Mana. It was I who ruined your happiness."

"I refuse." She told him angrily. "I won't allow myself to hate you. If I would…" She looked down again. "I would be all alone." She was quiet for a while before speaking up again:

"Be honest with me, Triton…I've been thinking for a while, but Shu…he won't ever come to love me, will he?"

Gai didn't want to answer this question. Knowing very well the answer would hurt his queen. But she had asked him to be honest, and so he would.

"No, Mana. I don't think he will." He answered truthfully. It was what he thought anyway. But where the normal Mana would have lashed out at him, calling him a liar, the Mana that was right in front of him did no such thing. Instead, he felt her shaking in his arms. Tears started flowing out of her beautiful eyes as she sobbed.

"I see…so it was all for nothing. The pain I endured…the pain I caused. Everything. Maybe Shu was right. Maybe it was really me who was the monster all along."

Her sadness slowly broke his heart. So in an attempt to ease her pain, he held her even closer.

"It's okay, Mana. So what if you are a monster? So is everyone else. You could ask anyone in the world and they would say I was a monster for trying to bring the apocalypse. If you asked Shu's former classmates, many of them would likely call him a monster as well. And even Inori, whom he so loves, is also only a monster deep down for the amount of people she has slaughtered without a care in the world."

"Then why is it that I always have to remain alone? If I am no different than anyone else, why must I be the only one to suffer?"

In that very moment, Gai did the unthinkable. He gently lifted her chin, so she would look up at him and kissed her, causing her to open her eyes in shock.

This was it. Gai had finally decided to bet everything on one card. If this reverted Mana back into her usual self, he would be as good as death, just like that one time 15 years ago when he had confronted her for the first time. She had been a mere princess then, with barely any queen powers to boot, so he had only gotten away with some injuries. But this time? If she were to get mad at him, he was toast. Simple as that. He was smart enough to realize that.

But still, her current state was a once in a lifetime chance. Who knew if Mana would ever show her weak side to him again? If he could get through to her now, he might actually get her to notice his feelings and instead of getting killed, he might actually get the true Adam, instead of being a mere substitute. And once he would achieve that, he could grant Mana everything she wished for. That possibility alone was worth the risk.

Well, either way. He had made his move. Now everything depended on how Mana would react to it. Once their lips finally parted again, she just stared at him with her still wide open, teary eyes.

"Triton…?"

He took a firm hold of her shoulders as he looked at her. "You don't have to be alone all the time, Mana. If you so wish, I would be more than glad to spend eternity with you. I would never let you be alone again, nor would I allow anything or anybody to ever make you cry again. All your wishes…I will try my hardest to make them come true. I am not Shu, but I can try to be the king you wanted him to be for you."

"You…you would be that for me? Really?" She asked him disbelievingly.

"I would do anything for you, Mana. I have felt this way ever since I met you."

She was silent for a moment, making him nervous. Apparently, she let the words sink in. Eventually she said:

"Are you sure…? If I were to make you mine, I wouldn't let anyone else have you, ever." She told him truthfully. "There wouldn't be any going back."

He smirked at that. "I appreciate the warning, but I have spent the last fifteen years getting to the point we are right now. Once you would give me the honor of actually becoming yours, the only way to ever get rid of me again, would be to kill me. And even then, if it was your wish, I would embrace death readily." He told her as he wiped away her tears from earlier.

"No." She told him as she gently pushed him backwards so he would lie down on the grass, where she then proceeded to lean over him, giving him the same smirk. "Death shall not have you, for from this moment onward, you are only allowed to be mine." Then she kissed him for the second time today, as if to actually seal a contract.

At this point, Gai could do little more than to embrace her as they shared another of what he hoped was not the last of the kisses he would come to share with this woman. However, hallway through it, Mana suddenly backed off, looking slightly shocked and confused.

"What's wrong?" He asked her worriedly. She still lay on top of him, holding her chest with an expression of confusion, yet also happiness.

"I can feel…your feelings for me flowing through me. I have never felt this before." She confessed to him. "In all the time I had chased after Shu, his feelings never reached me. Probably because he didn't have any for me to begin with. That's why I always felt cold and alone. But yours…they are so warm and strong…"

"Hm, I wonder if this is some kind of Adam and Eve thing?"

She merely smiled and leaned closer again. "Whatever this is…I might get addicted to it. To think I could have felt this way so much sooner. I was a foolish queen. I must have hurt you quite a lot, too. I am sorry, Triton." With her right hand, she gently caressed his left cheek, which resulted in him taking her hand and holding it tightly.

"There is no need for you to apologize. All the pain we went through in the past has finally paid off."

"It sure has."

"Funny how this turned out. A few hours earlier, Kuhouin Arisa had been so sure this would never happen." He told her with a chuckle.

"Hm…I know that name." She looked as if she was trying to recall who it actually was he was talking about.

"She's the woman who keeps funding Da'ath's operations, remember? You should have met her a couple of times."

She made a happy face once she actually recalled her. "Ah, I know. The blond one, right? What of her?"

"Well, she sort of confessed to me earlier, saying that I was just wasting my time anyway."

Her happy expression warped into an annoyed one rather quickly. Forming her right hand into a fist angrily, she declared: "…I am going to kill her."

Fueled by her anger, crystal spikes started to sprout all around them in the blink of an eye, totally wrecking the place. Gai hastily put a hand on her shoulder as if to calm her down and said:

"Easy, Mana! Why did you do that for? The room could have collapsed on us."

The woman on top of him looked quite surprised herself, staring at her hands in what seemed to be astonishment. "Eh? I didn't mean to do that much." She then grinned and looked down on him again. "Could it be that you actually boost my powers as well?"

Looking at the dangerous looking crystal formations all around them, which had all just come into existence in just a few seconds, he couldn't deny that theory of hers. "It sure looks that way."

Mana slowly undid her recent creation with gently, rhythmic movements of her arms, causing the crystals to shrink and eventually disappear from existence. "This is great. I feel like I could do anything." Suddenly, an exciting thought came to mind. "Hey, Triton. Let's bring the apocalypse and create our own world. We can finally do that now, right?"

He chuckled at her sudden increase of motivation. Something within him took great pride in the fact that it had been him that had caused her to transform from a sad, fragile girl into this gleaming embodiment of happiness and excitement before him.

"I would love to, but I still haven't received the void genome from Yuu." His expression turned serious then. "He claims it's because he is looking for a way to safely transfer it to me, but I think he is lying. I have known him for a long time now and I know that if he really wanted to give it to me, he would have found a way long ago. He probably intends to give it to someone else, having lost faith in me."

"How dare he…? Who does he think he is that he could deny my chosen Adam the guilty crown that should be rightfully his?" Mana growled in anger. She stood up and pushed Gai back on his feet, too, by letting a crystal slowly grow below him. Then she smirked. "Come, Triton. Let's reclaim what is yours. I will crush anyone who stands in our way."

She was about to leave, when Gai took a hold of her arm and held her back, making her look at him questioningly.

"Wait, I agree with your plan. But he is a dangerous man. We should make preparations."

She gave him an understanding smile. "Right. You are good with making plans, so I will leave it to you. Just count on me when it comes to actual combat. I will make sure to protect you." She chuckled as she happily took his right arm in hers. "I will not be denied happiness any longer."

"My thoughts exactly." He agreed with a confident smile and went forward. With his queen finally at his side, he intended to let nothing stop them anymore. Not Shu, nor Yuu, or Arisa and Nanba. Let them come, if they wanted. They would lay waste to them all if they had to.

-GC-

Not far away from them, only moments before Mana had chosen her new Adam, Yuu had been in his own room, getting ready for the night. Yawning once rather tiredly, he scratched the back of his head as he laid down an important document he had been reading up until now. He allowed himself to sigh in an annoyed fashion once he was done with it. Why was it that work even followed him into his own private quarters? Just because he was Da'ath's envoy didn't mean he didn't need some rest every once in a while, you know?

He stretched his arms and let a content smile appear on his face soon afterwards. Oh well, he thought, at least his hard work would be paying off very soon. Once the apocalypse would finally be upon them and humanity as a whole would start its ascend into superior beings, he would at long last get to see what it was truly capable off. New technologies, amazing architecture, revolutionary discoveries…he could see it all too clearly in his mind. And to make these things a reality together with Adam and Eve? It was his destiny. He simply knew it.

Right as that thought had crossed his mind, however, he felt a strange feeling in his left hand. Observing it, he realized that the king's symbol appeared there without him having summoned it. It glowed once, then stopped. As it vanished again, Yuu realized that some of its power had been lost.

"Hoh…the true-king's crown I took from Ouma Shu has just degraded into a normal crown again, which means…" He took a look outside his window into the night sky. "Did Eve choose a different Adam?"

The envoy closed his eyes and scratched his chin as if deep in thought. "Interesting, but why now? This might actually become quite troublesome."

This unexpected development did mean more work for him now, which in return, also meant that he couldn't go to sleep just yet. There were new plans to be made and new things to be considered.

He kept staring at his bed rather longingly.

"…"

Then he turned around and grabbed his white coat, heading straight for the door.

Well, that's what coffee was for, he supposed…

-GC-

Somewhere else entirely, a certain brown haired king lied in his bed and stared at the back of his right hand, having just witnessed the same thing.

" _What was that just now?_ " He asked himself. " _I think I may have lost something just now…but somehow I am feeling…relieved…? I wonder why…"_

It was true. The moment his king's symbol had flashed up, he had felt as if a huge burden had been taken off him. Maybe that was the reason why he couldn't bring himself to feel worried about it. After all, something that made him feel better couldn't possibly be a bad change, right? …Right…?

Next to him, his pink haired queen slightly shifted in her sleep, crawling closer to him. He then smiled and softly caressed her head which rested on his chest.

He may not have understood what had just happened to him, but right now he was happy. He felt free and though he wasn't naïve enough to think all his problems had suddenly vanished, at least tonight, he would allow himself to sleep with a feeling of light-heartedness. Something he hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

-GC-

The very next morning, Gai Tsutsugami found himself in the former school cafeteria, where he, his queen and various other Da'ath members and Mananites were actively consuming their breakfast. Mana merely chewed down her cereal wordlessly and watched Gai as he was eying the three people sitting opposite of them seriously. The tables around them were left empty, since no one else dared to even sit near the mad queen and everyone who associated with her, which worked greatly to their advantage, given the topic they were about to discuss here.

"Thanks for coming. I will cut to the chase: How long do you need to gather the troops?" The blond man asked them.

The three on the opposite end of him shared a short look with each other, probably curious what this was even about. The first one had been a young lad with short, blond hair and green eyes, apparently at Gai's age. An earring that looked like a dice could be seen on his right earlobe and he casually leaned against the table with his right elbow as he took a bite from the sandwich he was currently consuming.

The second guy didn't look that much older, but still a lot fiercer with a scar adorning the left side of his face, crossing his eye. The eye appeared to be fine, though, probably having been restored after the man had gone through evolution. His hair was pitch black and looked somewhat wild, with several strands standing out in a rather spiky fashion. A short beard could also be found on his face. He sat in the middle of the trio with his arms folded in front of him. Reddish brown eyes returning the serious look Gai was giving them.

The last of them was a woman, probably a couple years older than all of them. She had long, curly and beautiful brown hair, which also covered the left part of her face, giving her a rather mature and mysterious look. The one eye Gai could actually see was azure blue and narrowed down halfway, implying that she was either bored, tired or both. She played around with the salad in front of her, but wasn't really taking any serious attempt at eating it.

They were all clad in the same white robe Gai was wearing, indicating that they, too, were one of the few higher ranked people around here. Which didn't really come as a surprise, given the fact that those three were the last people from his former resistance group that had died, evolved and still stayed loyal to him, even after all these years. The blond ex-king had met other familiar faces in the void realm before, but none of them would even look at him anymore after the stunt he had pulled. Understandably, he though, albeit highly regrettable.

So in the end, that was all that was left of _his_ Undertakers. Not to be confused with the ones Shu and Inori led now.

"That really depends on how many you need." The black haired man among them eventually replied. "We could surely scrap together some good men in a few hours, but if you needed the whole force…that could take days."

"Not to mention that it would be unwise to call back the soldiers guarding the border of loop seven. The military might invade the moment they notice the defenses weaken." The blond one next to him added.

"That's alright, I don't need the full force. A small company of your best men should suffice for our needs." Gai merely told them as he shook his head.

"Which is…?"

"We believe Da'ath is screwing us over." It was Mana this time. "They appear to stall us by making me craft blessings for them while they secretly take preparations to find a replacement for Triton. Quite unforgivable, no?" She told them with an evil smirk. Gai took over from there.

"Exactly, which is why I plan to confront Yuu and make him give me the void genome whether he likes it or not. Da'ath is obsessed with the thought of bringing the evolution and its survival of the fittest mentality. I will make them see that I won't be the one selected out by them."

"But that envoy is no joke." The woman with curly hair finally spoke. "Perhaps just we three are not enough to gather the required amount of manpower? What if we asked Nanba and his lieutenants for additional support? They have about as much people under their command as we have, which means we would potentially double the power of our force."

Gai leaned forward, forming a bridge with both his hands and put his head on them with narrowed eyes. "No. I understand your reasoning, but I don't trust Nanba and his brutes. We will have to do this without him."

"I could always force him into submission, you know…?" Mana stated, as she shoved her empty bowl aside after having finished consuming its contents at last. Gai merely smiled at her.

"I know you could. But Nanba is a cunning man. And he never forgets. Given the fact that my relationship with him is already pretty bad, I would rather avoid making it even worse." He sighed and turned his attention back to the other three. "Killing him would actually be the safest bet, but I can't afford to risk a rebellion by his men. It could be easily crushed by Mana, but a lot of men would pointlessly die, weakening our force and giving our enemies an advantage."

"So Nanba and his pack have to be kept in the dark…" the black haired man concluded. Gai gave him a nod, causing the blond one to massage the back of his neck in a rather annoyed way.

"That's gonna be a pain. He and his men have eyes and ears everywhere, given the fact that they stray around all over loop seven. It could slow down our troop mobilization if we have to make sure he doesn't find out." He told them.

"That's alright. Given the fact that Yuu should not see this one coming, we should already have the advantage with Mana at my side." Said girl didn't hesitate to take a hold of his arm, pull herself close and smirk at them confidently. "You and your guys are merely the backup. Just gather everyone you can until 15:00 this afternoon. I will give you the signal to strike."

The woman of the trio sighed and flung her hair back casually. "Fine by me. Just don't forget your promise to make sure we three will become nobles in that kingdom you and your queen will eventually form. "

Gai nodded. "Naming you three dukes and duchess will be the first thing on my agenda after becoming the true king." He looked down to Mana at his left. "Unless you have any objections, my queen?"

"None. If they prove to be useful, they shall get rewarded." Is what she told them with a shrug.

The trio in front of them shared a smirk of pleasant anticipation as they stood up and bowed to them with utmost respect.

"Then we shall see to it that the men are gathered. If you would excuse us…"

"Of course. Be on your way."

"All hail King Gai and Queen Mana." They saluted in unison, followed by turning around and leaving.

As they watched them exit the cafeteria, the pink haired queen couldn't help but sigh in satisfaction.

"You know, I could get used to this." This caused her king to chuckle at her.

"You better do. This won't be the last time you will hear people say that."

"So, what comes next?" She wanted to know.

"Now? We wait." Everything had basically been set in motion now. They had formed the plan to overthrow Yuu together last night and Gai had taken note of the amount of guards posted around them, as well as their patrol routes so that they could take them out right before the operation. Basically all that was left to do was to wait for their forces to gather and to give the signal.

"If you are tired, you could go to sleep. I will come wake you once it's time." He suggested, bearing in mind that they had stayed up nearly all night to come up with their plan. However, Mana merely looked at him with a seductive smile.

"I could do that, but I have a better idea." She stood up and took him by his hand, urging him to follow her. He obliged, albeit curious what it was that she had in mind. Upon realizing that, Mana pulled him closer and put her mouth near his ear, so she could whisper words only he could hear. Not that anyone would have dared to eavesdrop in the first place…

"If I remember correctly, I merely _declared_ you mine last night. I still have to _make_ you mine, no? Since we are both free right now, why don't we find someplace private to finish what we have started?"

The blond man didn't need long to catch on. Giving her a knowing smile, he simply kissed the back of her hand in a gentlemanly manner.

"Anything my queen wishes of me."

This could actually become the best day ever, is what he thought.


	6. Observation

**6\. Observation**

Meanwhile, far, far, away from Tennozu High and Loop seven, a different king stood with his queen in order to prepare for a confrontation with an old friend. They both, accompanied by many of their most trusted friends, hid in a nearby alleyway as they looked at the huge building across the street. Naturally, it belonged to no one else but the Kuhouin group and so happened to be the company's central office.

"Tsugumi, how much longer until Funell is operational…?" Shu spoke into his earpiece with a calm voice, yet also a hint of impatience visible on his face. He eyed the small robot his queen was holding in her arms and looked dissatisfied once he realized the robot was still not moving.

"I will let you know that Funell IS operational. He always has been. The problem lies with this old piece of junk technology I am forced to use here." Came the irritated voice of the black haired hacker in response. "This stuff had hardly been in the best condition when I had installed it 5 years ago, and it certainly hasn't gotten any better in the meantime. But don't you worry, Shu. I will find a solution for that aaaaany minute now. "

That only caused him to sigh in return.

"Alright, just tell us once you managed to control him remotely. Without him, this whole infiltration could end up being useless and we will be forced to storm the building with full force instead. A lot of people could die for nothing if, by any chance, we are wrong and Arisa is, in fact, innocent."

"Heh, sure she is…" Yahiro sarcastically said next to them while rolling his eyes. With his assault rifle in hand, he kept watch, hidden behind a corner. Though it wasn't really necessary, seeing as to how barely anyone was still walking around the streets anymore ever since the lockdown happened. Shops and grocery stores were running low on goods, so no one could go shopping anymore. With nothing to buy left, money suddenly lost a lot of its appeal for many people. Especially since another apocalypse might lie in wait for them and they might die anyway.

To put it more bluntly: These days, people, out of fear, mainly stuck with their families at home and only went outside when they felt the need to. For example, if they needed to get new rations from the military or needed a bit of fresh air. Of course, there were also a couple of workaholics and optimists here and there, who either just couldn't stand sitting at home all day or simply had hope for this state to end soon . Thus they still held on to their habits of dragging themselves to work every day, but the majority? They stayed at home for the time being.

This, in return, caused the streets of Tokyo to appear eerily empty. Apart from a couple busses, cars, military patrols and a handful pedestrians here and there, the city was pretty much desolated. Sure, it might have been better than the sight of riots and chaos from the earlier days of the lockdown, but no matter what the military said…this city was far away from being in its natural state.

"It would be better for her if she wasn't involved, but I just can't see it happening. She was in too deep before for her to be out now. It wouldn't make any sense." He gave them his reasoning, to which they could do little but nod in agreement. Still, the possibility existed, so they wouldn't jump on conclusions yet.

The brown haired former drug dealer then noticed a "Wanted!" poster of himself hanging on the wall and, for some reason, couldn't help but smirk happily as he tore it off carefully, as to not damage it, followed by folding it neatly and tucking it away in one of his coat's inner pockets.

Juan, who sat on the ground next to him, armed with a SMG, couldn't help but look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you smirking so smugly for?"

"Simple: That poster will come in handy someday. The ladies dig bad boys, if you get what I mean." He told him and chuckled softly. "That way, I will at least get something out of this once this damn mess finally blows over."

"Really?" Juan stared at him in bewilderment, then he turned towards Jimmy who was standing opposite of him, leaning against the wall with folded arms. His rifle was at his feet and leaned against the wall as if to mimic its possessor's posture. "Hey, Jimmy, let's go grab some posters of us as well" He eagerly suggested.

"There are no posters of us. Not yet anyway." The older man explained to him in a rather uninterested sounding voice. Naturally, he had been right about that. Until the military would finally realize GenesisGenesis for what they were, victims of the last apocalypse, their identities would largely remain unknown to them. Though, it was likely that the SDF had, in fact, already made the connection and merely refused to give the information out to the public to avoid another panic attack. After all, who in their right mind would calmly take the news that previously assumed dead people were walking the earth again? It sounded like a scenario right out of hell, even though reality didn't look quite as grim.

Still, even if the SDF knew about the evolved victims of the apocalypse, it was still more than unlikely that they could even be able to tie their faces with names. Since the change from GHQ to the present government had been such a bureaucratic mess, they wouldn't even be able to tell which Japanese citizen had died to the virus in all the past years. Let alone all the foreigners of the day of the fourth apocalypse.

In short, officially, every Genesis was still considered dead. And unless the military learned of the true identities of GenesisGenesis, that would remain so.

The conversation continued.

"Not to mention that Yahiro is bullshitting you anyway." They all heard Ayase's annoyed voice coming from their earpieces. The man in question only chuckled at that.

"Oh, am I? And I suppose you are more than fit to be the judge of that?"

"Naturally."

His smirk grew wider. "Hoh? So tell me, Mrs love expert, there is this person I have liked for 5 long years now and for some reason, I was completely unable to make a move on them in all this time, even though they were literally just out there for the taking. What am I doing wrong?" He didn't even need much fantasy to envision how shocked the brunette girl back in the base must have looked right now. Yeah, he knew of her crush. And to be honest, it hadn't been that hard to realize it in the first place. The girl was as easy to read as an open book. At least regarding her feelings.

"…..I am going to kill you." Ayase's angry voice was finally heard after a deadly silence. It was unclear if it was due to a technical malfunction, but her voice had sounded awfully scary. Almost demonic. Though Yahiro didn't seem to mind at all, given the fact that he merely snickered quietly.

Somehow, this managed to catch the king's curiosity and so, with an ignorant smile, he asked:

"Huh, Ayase has someone she likes? Who's it? If it's been 5 years, I should know him, right?"

Ayase suddenly got quiet again, causing Yahiro to chuckle even louder. However, instead of telling him, he merely waved the matter off as if it wasn't important at all.

"Don't worry, Shu. It's hopeless anyway. The guy is already taken…not to mention that he was out of her league in the first place." He shrugged it off.

"Oh, that's just too bad. But for someone to be out of Ayase's league…Just who is he? A god? I figured it was rather her who would outclass everyone…" He wondered out aloud.

"Did you hear that, Ayase? A compliment from no one else but Shu. You must be happy."

"Seriously, Yahiro. One more word out of your damn mouth and I won't care about you being part of this mission anymore. I will get over there and murder you. Painfully." Her voice rang in their ears angrily. The strategist knew the girl was probably at her limits now, blushing madly in front of the computer she used to talk to them with, so he gave it a rest at last. Without another word, but still with a smirk on his face, he returned to his watchman duty.

"My, Yahiro and Ayase seem to get along quite well, don't they?" Hare eventually decided to say, standing right next to Inori with her hands neatly folded behind her back. She would have looked like the odd one out of the group, with her innocent smile and kind voice, if it hadn't been for the pistol she was carrying around on her belt. One would wonder if she actually knew how to use it, but no one else but Inori had shown her, so she felt more than prepared to take action when needed.

Jun nodded with a grin and looked up from his own pistol's magazine he was currently loading up with bullets. "They sure do. Looks like I am gaining a sister-in-law soon."

"Oh please, Jun…you must be joking. How tasteless a brother do you think you have?" His older brother complained to him while giving him a not-so-amused looking expression.

"I don't know, Yahiro…I think he has a point." Hare said with a smile. "You sure looked kinda cool when you carried Ayase like a princess back in Tennozu after you broke free and rushed over to Shu." Of course, she was speaking of the time Shu and Inori had just returned from the void realm and had walked right into Da'ath's trap.

"I know, right?" The younger brother agreed eagerly. "Bullets flew everywhere and explosions were going off left and right, but he was all like 'Fuck this shit. I won't let anything touch her.'

"…your brother sure is annoying, Yahiro." They could hear Ayase grumbled over the radio. To her surprise, he seemed to share her opinion.

"I actually have to agree. What a pain…"

"Hey, how come it's only me who is annoying? What about Hare?" The younger brother wondered.

"Because Hare is Hare…can't be helped."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" The girl in question asked, only to have their conversation interrupted by no one else but Argo, who, so far, had shared the lookout duty with Yahiro in silence. Obviously, there had to be something of interest for him to actually speak up.

"Oi, Shu. Don't you know that guy? I think I saw his face at your school before."

Everyone in the group, including the king he had just addressed directly, followed the direction he was pointing them to. Their eyes eventually fell upon a certain black haired young and familiar man. He was dressed in a slightly wrinkly business suit and had an impression on his face that could only be described as pain and regret. Like a zombie he kept on walking towards the Kuhouin group's main office. Shu was the first to voice his surprise over that unexpected encounter.

"Whoa, is that Souta? Man, I haven't seen that guy ever since the last apocalypse. Literally." Of course, no one doubted that statement. With his blindness only cured recently, his words held nothing but truth in them.

"Really? Souta is here? Let me see!" Hare tried to push everyone aside to gain a better view, only to fail in the process since everyone in front of her was effectively taller than her.

"It certainly is him. But what is he doing here…?" This time, it was Inori who voiced the question that was on everyone's mind, causing Yahiro to sigh in annoyance.

"I cannot believe this damn idiot. All this time he had made it such a big secret where he was working at…I had always suspected it to be something foolish, but for him to actually work for Arisa…has he got no shame?" His younger brother grabbed his chin thoughtfully once he had heard that.

"Wait, if you guys know him and he works for that Arisa person, couldn't he come in handy?"

A proud grin appeared on the ex-drug dealer's face as he playfully ruffled his younger brother's hair. The latter could only offer a weak smile at Yahiro's antics.

"Good thinking there, little brother. My thoughts exactly." His gaze traveled over to Shu as he asked: "What do you think, Shu?"

The king merely answered with a short nod. "Let's grab him."

-GC-

"Urgh, what a night."

Souta's groggy voice filled the almost empty streets of Tokyo as he continued to scuff his heavy feet to work slowly, one foot at a time. And let him tell you what a bullshit morning that was, really.

Firstly, he had woken up to the feeling of giant steel hammers pounding his head roughly and mercilessly, which he would later learn were nothing less but the effects of the worst hangover he had ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

Secondly, he had done so nowhere else but a couch in the Kuhouin mansion. His boss's place. With only fragments of memories to actually help him recreating the curious scenario that had ended up causing him to be there in the first place.

What made matters worse, was that it had been a work day, and pending apocalypse or not, Arisa would have rather had their heads than to let her employees skip a day at work. So…if he had still held any hopes of his life returning to the previous state, to go back to a life before the lockdown with him still having a job and all, he would have been best advised to not displease her by not showing up.

And you see, that's where the problem had been. He had obviously spent the night at Arisa's place…that much couldn't have been denied at that point, but despite the fact that Arisa must have known that, she STILL hadn't woken him up. Sure, she had been kind enough to place a tray containing a glass of water and some aspirin next to him, which at first had moved him to tears since he had assumed she had been so nice as to actually care about him and give him the day off. However, that was before he had spied the little note that had come along with the aspirin, saying nothing less but:

"Good morning, Souta. Thanks for keeping me company last night. Please take the aspirin against the hangover you will certainly experience. I hope it helps."

Nothing wrong with that message, you say? Certainly. Souta, too, had had nothing but tears of happiness and gratitude in his eyes once he had read those words. But then his eyes fell upon the last words of the small letter written with pretty much perfect and elegant handwriting:

"PS: If you show up late for work, you won't have to bother showing up anymore at all. I would suggest taking a shower, too. Feel free to use the one at the first floor."

Reading that, he had immediately felt as if he had been petrified from shock. As if to mock him, the tall and expensive looking wall clock had tolled, signaling the start of a new hour. But for all it had mattered, it could as well have tolled for his impending death.

One thing was for sure, though: Never before in his life had he gotten ready for work that quickly. He wouldn't even have thought it to be physically possible, but he sure as hell had felt damn proud of himself once he had managed to get washed and dressed in record time…even thought he would have really enjoyed taking his time inside that luxurious bathroom he had only had the short honor of using.

His peril hadn't ended there, though, because even though technically he had been back on time, that would have only been the case if the world around him hadn't gone to shit again. Where usually busses and trains would take the people to their desired locations inside the city every 15 minutes, now during the lockdown and many people not really working anymore, transportation had become far less reliable. And so, though some busses and trains still drove around town, you would have to expect to wait about 2 hours for one and should still consider yourself lucky if one actually showed up in the first place.

Naturally, Souta had not had the luxury of wasting time waiting, so all that he could have done at this point, was walk. And walked he had. All the long way from the Kuhouin mansion to the main office. Which left him at the current point. To say he was mentally as well as physically exhausted was the very least.

Oh if only he could have stayed asleep on that comfy couch he had woken up on today. He had been willing to pay any prize as long as it hadn't caused him losing his job. In fact, that couch was another reason why he thought this whole world was unfair. After all, one couldn't help but feel jealous if a simple couch placed somewhere in that mansion as a mere decorative object was more comfortable than his own bed back home. He could only imagine in what kind of bed Arisa was sleeping in. Maybe he should have found out while he still had had the chance. Surely she would not have noticed, right?

"Man, if at least that damn aspirin would work…" He cursed quietly and held his head in pain. "This day has just merely started and it fucking sucks already…"

"You bet it does." Came the deep voice of an unknown man from behind. Whirling around in confusion, he had had only a couple of seconds to see the face of the man before he grabbed him with ease, hauled him on his shoulder and took him with him.

"Bloody hell? What's the big idea, man? Lemme go! I will let you know that I know Kung Fu, so you better watch it, pal!"

"Sure you do. And a whole lot of good it will do you in your current state." Jimmy merely chuckled as he carried his 'victim' over to the alley his friends were waiting for him. He did so fast and carefully, making sure no one was there to see him. Not that it had been a hard thing to pull off in the first place.

Souta ended up getting thrown on the floor rather uncomfortably. "Urgh, now you have really done it. I have powerful friends, you know. If you hurt me, you are as good as dead, you hear me?"

"Heh, I wonder who those friends might be." Yahiro told him with a grin and shrugged. Once Souta recognized him, he visibly calmed down. A sigh of relief even escaped his lips.

"Oh, so it's just you, Yahiro. What's the deal? You scared the hell out of me. Couldn't you have greeted me in a normal way?"

"Well, apparently, I am a terrorist now, so abducting people seems to be the normal way for me now…" He took a glance over at Shu. "Right?"

"Well according to definition, yeah. That's what terrorists do. Inflicting terror." The king answered nonchalantly. Now Souta, too, finally realized Shu's presence and looked at him wide-eyed.

"Holy shit! It's you, Shu, isn't it? Haven't seen you in ages, man! How've you been?" He got up and gave his old friend a friendly pat on the shoulder. All while having a huge smile plastered on his face.

The brunette king returned the smile, although not quite as happily as the one his friend had offered him. "Well, not so good, actually. Considering I almost died again. There is this whole terrorist thing to worry about, too."

That made Souta back off with a worried expression. "Right…you…didn't do it, right?"

Over the radio, Ayase replied to this with a: "Please, someone punch this idiot for asking that question."

"With pleasure." Jimmy said as he clicked his knuckles before hitting the back of Souta's head with enough force to annoy him, but not enough to seriously hurt him.

"Ouch, who the hell are you supposed to be, anyway? Damn foreigner!" He gritted his teeth at him angrily.

"Want some more?"

"Heck no." Looking past the tall (and armed) man, he also finally noticed the two girls and Yahiro's brother behind him. Well, Jun, didn't catch much of his interest, seeing as to how he didn't know him, but the girls, on the other hand, he knew perfectly well.

"Nice to see you again, Souta." Hare greeted him with one of her trademark kind smiles. Inori, too waved at him cutely.

He didn't reply, only blinked at them, followed by rubbing his eyes and blinking at them once more. Everyone simply stared at him with an amused expression until he finally went over to Shu, whispering to him:

"Shu, you would not believe it, but I finally developed my own super power. I…I see dead people!"

The king only looked at him for a second as if he couldn't believe he had heard those words just now. Was that guy serious? But then an entertaining thought crossed his mind. He took a glance at Hare and was pleased when she winked at him, signaling that she managed to get the same idea. While she was busy whispering something into Inori's ear, Shu offered the black haired man in front of him a seemingly amazed smile and asked him:

"What? Really? What do they say?"

"Well…" The man in question turned around nervously, only to see Hare stand directly behind him, staring deeply into his eyes. He flinched in surprise and backed off a bit.

"It's your fault…Sou…ta…" She said to him, sounding rather accusing and creepy. Stretching out her arms, she started walking towards him. "You killed meeeeee."

To say that Souta looked horrified was the very least. Shu and Yahiro barely managed to hold back their laughter.

"Hey, what's wrong, Souta? You look like you have seen a ghost." The former drug dealer stated, acting as if he couldn't actually see Hare or Inori.

"You okay, man?" Shu joined in on the fun.

Souta, however, ignored them. Focusing solely on Hare as he backed away in terror.

"I…I am so, so sorry Hare…it really was an accident…I didn't mean…"

He got cut off by Inori standing behind him. When did she get there? She looked even scarier than Hare since he couldn't even see her eyes behind that long, pink hair of hers. An unnerving smile appeared on her lips.

"Unforgivable. We have come to get you…"

"G-g-g-get me?" Confusion and terror were present on his face as he repeat what she had just said in confusion. What could she possible mean? That's when Hare reached him and put her arms around him from behind, holding him in place.

"Join us, Sou…ta…in hell!" She creepily whispered into his ear as Inori went over to him and started to let his body crystalize…but only a little.

That, however, was enough to make him completely lose it. With teary eyes, he yelled:

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Then suddenly everything stopped and the sound of laughter filled the alleyway. As well as a 'click' coming from Yahiro's mobile as he had saved his friend's expression for all eternity.

"Freakin' saved, man!" He yelled between bursts of laughter. Next to him, Shu was supporting himself on his shoulder, trying to not fall over from all his laughing.

"Did…did you…did you hear that last scream? Oh god…my sides…"

"Guys…it hurts…can't stop laughing…guys…help!" Juan said while rolling on the floor, unable to control himself.

"I've got tears in my eyes!" Jun stated as he tried wiping said tears away.

"' _NOOOOOOOOOO!'_ " An imitation of Souta's scream filled the intercoms. Brought to them by no one else but Tsugumi and that, of course, caused them all to burst out into laughter again.

Souta, for his part, didn't get it. Checking his body, he found not a single crump of cancer on him, even though he had JUST seen it forming and spreading on him. Heck, he had even FELT it. What the hell? And what was so goddamn funny in the first place? He had thought he was about to die, you know? That's not funny at all.

As realization slowly stuck him, the whiteness of his face changed into a gleaming red. First out of embarrassment, then out of anger. But as he was about to voice his frustration about getting tricked, he spied Hare and Inori holding each other in their arms laughing and giggling happily. And that, somehow, calmed him down. He wasn't going to claim he understood what the heck was going on here, but to see these two girls of whom he had thought he would never see again, in their current happy state…it felt…nice. Peaceful. Their happiness even felt contagious. A smile appeared on his lips, then he joined the laughter.

Only halfway, though, did he realize that his laughter had turned into sobs as he went over to the girls and embraced them happily and relieved. Both of which understandingly shared the hug and tried to comfort him with kind smiles, telling him that everything was okay now.

A little while later, after things had finally calmed down, Souta, at long last, received the explanation he had longed for all this time.

"You guys are real assholes, you know…" He grumbled at them angrily as they still snickered a bit from before. "That wasn't funny at all."

"Speak for yourself, man. That just made my day, really." Yahiro stated, still grinning happily.

"Well, getting to know that Hare and Inori are actually alive kinda made my day, too, I suppose." The black haired man gave in and smiled at Shu. "And you even got your eyesight back. I am happy for you, man!"

"Thanks. I actually can't believe how lucky I am myself."

"Me, too. I actually got my little brother back. I wouldn't even have dared to dream about him ever coming back, you know." Yahiro agreed.

"Speaking of siblings I never even heard of before…I can kinda forgive Yahiro for never mentioning a brother, but man, Shu, when were you going to tell me you had a sister?" It was but a mere, jokingly question, yet caused the whole gang to immediately look at him seriously. Especially the king's stare kind of unnerved him as they seemingly bore their way deep into his mind.

"How do you know about Mana…?" He asked him with a very suspecting sounding voice. That's when Souta finally realized that he had messed up.

"Shit…I wasn't supposed to know that, was I…?" He smiled at them nervously and awkwardly. Maybe it was for the better that no one ever told him things of importance, seeing as to how bad he could handle information.

Suddenly, he felt crystal vines wrap themselves around his wrists and legs, holding him in place. A small glance at Inori told him that it had probably been her doing. He was observant enough to at least make that much out. Jun, Jimmy, Argo and Juan quickly aimed their weapons at him in suspicion. He gulped. That was some serious shit he had managed to get himself into.

"Hey, easy there, fellas. Surely there is no need for that, right? Come on, Shu. Tell them to put the guns down. Aren't we friends…?"

"That depends on your answer…" Yahiro told him coldly. Shu continued from there.

"Aside from everyone present, only my mother, GHQ and Da'ath were supposed to know of Mana. How do you know…?"

"Shit, man. You must be the most protective brother I have ever met. Look, if you don't want me to get near her, I won't. Though that's slightly unfair since you also got in the way of me and Inori and to be honest I…"

"Just answer the question!" Argo demanded loudly and held his rifle closer, causing Souta to flinch.

"Arisa told me yesterday, okay? She never told me it was supposed to be a secret, you know? Bloody hell, Shu. I told you I will leave your sis alone, so let go off me already."

The king merely sighed in annoyance. "This isn't about me being protective over my sister. In fact, if anyone would need protection, it would be you. From her."

"Nevermind that." Jun suddenly said. "He mentioned Arisa. Does that mean she is connected to all this?"

"Damn right she is." Yahiro stated his opinion while shaking his head in a frustrated way. "And Souta might be part of it all, that idiot."

"Hey, don't call me an idiot. I don't even get what this all is about, really."

"…he doesn't really seem to belong to Da'ath, you know…" Hare tried to come to his defense. Argo was quick to disagree.

"Or he might just be lying."

"What the hell is this 'Da'ath' thing supposed to be anyway?" The former F-rank asked them in confusion, but ended up getting ignored.

For a short moment, Shu looked rather unhappy. Probably not really comfortable with the thought of suspecting an old friend. Still, he knew what had to be done. If Souta really DID join Da'ath, then that made them enemies and would inevitably force his hand. But until that was proven, he would not act rashly. First, they had to find proof.

"Search him." He told his friends, who quickly complied.

What they found didn't really help to show Souta's innocence.

"Nothing of interest, except for this." Jimmy reported and handed the king the rose flower shaped crystal Souta had received from Arisa last night. Some lucky charm it turned out to be.

"A crystal…?" Shu frowned. There are only three ways Souta could have come into possession of a crystal. Either it was a fake and he simply carried it around to impress girls, which wasn't all that unlikely, given his desperation to finally get a girlfriend, or this was, in fact, a real one. And if that was the case, chances were rather slim for him to have merely found one by accident. He would have had had to receive it from Mana. And that could only mean he was tied to Da'ath at least somehow.

Once he held the crystal in his hands and confirmed that he could hear the voices of other GenesisGenesis currently connected to a similar crystal, there was no doubt that Souta's one was original.

"But why would he have one? He hasn't evolved yet." Inori wondered as she found her way next to Shu to have a closer look at the rose-shaped crystal herself. A valid question, Shu thought. If Souta hadn't evolved yet, a crystal would be entirely useless to him. So why carry it? Was he a courier?

"Can you tell me if there is anything special about this crystal, Inori?" He handed her the object carefully and started to worry once he saw her frown.

"It's Mana-made for sure. And there is some really complex function embedded into it. However, I would need more time to tell you what exactly it is supposed to do." She replied while shaking her head slowly. Shu gave her an understanding nod.

He wasn't claiming he fully understood how crystals worked yet, but he at least had a basic idea. From what he had seen so far, the mysterious new material was pretty important for the world after the apocalypse. Possibly even important enough to replace oil and gold someday. If you asked yourself why, it was simply because it was useful beyond belief. The way a queen formed her crystals not only affected the object's shape, but also could give them a function. Just like how Inori had made crystals that either allowed passage or not back at her camp in the void realm.

You could probably say a queen's crystals were programmable to do anything the queen wants them to do, even if the queen herself was not present. The material basically was able to receive an order from the queen while being shaped and could follow that order at a later time with no further action of said queen needed. That, while being incredibly useful, could also be incredibly dangerous. Heck, for all they knew, Mana could have told that crystal to cause another Lost Christmas in the center of the city. He would better let Inori hold onto it for the time being, for she could easily negate whatever effect that little rock could hold in store for them.

"Please take care of it until we find out what it does. If that thing tries to do something dangerous, destroy it." He told her, to which she replied with a determined nod.

"I will."

The king's attention shifted back to Souta again.

"How did you obtain that crystal?" He wanted to know.

"Arisa gave it to me. Said it was a lucky charm and that I should have it on me no matter what. Given the fact that I don't often receive presents from her, could I please have it back?" There was also the issue that she could get mad at him and fire him once she found out he had lost that one thing she had told him to never lose, but he didn't feel the need to tell them that.

"Ain't gonna happen, pal." Juan told him with an evil smirk. "There is no way in hell we would let your run around with Mana-crystals. Who knows what they are gonna do. For all we know, you might be a suicide bomber carrying a bomb of mass-destruction around with you."

"Suicide bom-…?" Their suspected friend merely looked at the younger person in utter disbelief. "Are you fucking retarded?" He threw a glance back at Shu while nudging with his head into the direction of Juan. "Oi, Shu? Who is that Jamaican moron? Tell him he is nuts. There is no way I would do something like that!"

"Actually, I am from the Dominican Repub-" Juan tried to correct the man, only to get interrupted by Shu.

"Well, he has a point. He wouldn't do that…willingly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Souta wanted to know, sounding rather offended at the fact that his friend would defend AND suspect him all in the same breath.

"It means that you probably ended up getting used by Da'ath without you even realizing it." Jun explained to him, which only irritated him more.

"For the hundredth time, who the heck is this Da'ath you guys keep mentioning? Is that the name of those weirdos in loop seven?"

"You know them? So you ARE tied to them." Argo deducted, resulting in Hare getting annoyed with him.

"Cut it out already! He merely tried to guess since you guys jump the gun on him so much."

The black haired salary man appeared to feel awfully relieved because of her words. "Thank you, Hare. Finally someone who makes sense around here."

"What do you know about 'those weirdos in loop seven'?" Yahiro asked him patiently.

"Which ones? The void freaks, or the ones in Tennozu?"

Shu lifted a brow on this question.

"You know there is a difference?"

"I guess? The ones in Tennozu appeared to be more civilized. I haven't met the void carrying ones, but from what I heard, they are rather ruthless and dangerous. Come to think of it, how come they have voids?"

His question was ignored again, instead, Yahiro answered with another question, this time obviously surprised at Souta's words.

"You make it sound like you actually MET them. Have you?"

"I was there just yesterday night together with Arisa. She pretty much dragged me there even though I said I didn't want to go. It's become a creepy place, even worse than before. Gave me the shivers. Can't really remember much, though." He answered truthfully, although slightly annoyed about the fact that even his friends wouldn't tell him anything and keep ignoring his questions.

Following that statement, everyone just looked at Shu, whose expression turned visibly darker.

"Okay, that's it. I have heard enough. Time to get the answers from the culprit herself."

As if on cue, Funell, who had been put aside for the time being, finally arouse from his artificial slumber with Tsugumi's voice reaching them through their earpieces at pretty much the same time.

"Good news, everyone. I finally managed to get this crappy hardware to work. I got complete control over Funell from back here."

As if to prove her point, the little robot made his way over to Shu and aimed his stun gun readily at Souta.

"I could stun and tie him up for you. Some Undertakers could go and fetch him while you guys commence the operation." Tsugumi offered, only to Souta's absolute disdain.

"I STRONGLY object that plan!"

The brunette king held his chin deep in thought and showed them all a smirk once he came to a decision.

"I have a better idea."

The moment Souta saw him taking out his pistol and coming closer, he immediately knew that he didn't like where this was going.


	7. Infiltration

**7\. Infiltration**

About ten minutes later, the sound of two gunshots filled the air around them, fired by no one else but Inori. That, effectively, caught the attention of everyone present.

"Alright, everyone. I have the honor to tell you all that the Undertakers have taken over this very building as of right now. I would like everyone to get down to the ground, or this guy bites the dust!"

The brunette king threatened everyone present while holding Souta in front of him with a pistol held against the right side of his head. He, as well as his whole team plus Funell, stood in the middle of the Kuhouin building's entry hall while the staff only looked at them with a dumbfounded expression. And not without reason, for no one else but Ouma Shu, Japan's most wanted terrorist, had just walked in through their main entrance and declared that he had taken over this facility. Of all the things he could have attacked, why them? They couldn't believe their bad luck.

They complied, however. Everyone went down to their knees and held their hands behind their heads. Argo spotted some security men trying to grab their weapons from a blind spot, but he quickly fired a warning shot at their feet and told them:

"Hey! No playing heroes! Guns down and hands where I can see them. This ain't a game."

The guards were caught red handed, and quickly yielded once they realized they were completely outgunned by the small group of 8 people…sans hostage.

"If I had known THIS was the alternative, I would have gladly accepted Tsugumi's stun gun plan…" Shu could hear Souta mumble quietly with a very displeased expression on his face. The king merely offered him an apologetic smile and whispered back:

"Sorry about that, but it makes advancing so much easier. Besides, I already told you that there are no bullets in this thing, didn't I?" He gave the small firearm in his hand a quick shake, before pressing it against his friend's head again.

"That doesn't make this whole situation any less unpleasant…"

"Relax. It's just a show. I promise nothing will happen to you." The brown haired man assured his friend. However, Yahiro felt the need to add:

"As long as it turns out you haven't joined Da'ath together with that boss of yours."

"Still no clue what the fuck you are even talking about."

"You will understand once we get to Arisa. Where do we need to go to get to her?" Yahiro's little brother asked of him.

"Try her office on the top floor. If she ain't there, then I don't know where she is."

Shu nodded at that. "Alright, let's make sure those civilians are properly restrained and not causing trouble. Jimmy and Juan will seal the entrance and buy us some time by holding the military out, who will surely come soon. Meanwhile, we will take the elevator up to the top floor and hopefully avoid combat thanks to Souta, who will act as our hostage." He explained to them.

Jimmy and Juan wasted no time and went off to their assigned duty, while Inori quickly and effortlessly tied up hands, legs and mouths of each employee that had previously surrendered. The looks they received for this in return ranged from utter horror to absolute anger, but it changed little about their situation in the end.

Shu watched Jun and Argo run to the elevators to call one and used the time until one would eventually arrive at the ground floor to assess their surroundings better.

Presently, they were right in the middle of the rather spacious entry hall of the building. The ceiling was pretty high and supported by a lot of thick, solid looking pillars. It also was adorned by many lights, shining down on the black marble floor below them, which was so clean that the king almost expected to see a reflection of him on it. The walls were painted in a brown color and had ambient lamps adorning them on certain intervals. Along with pots, which, contrary to the meeting room back at their Undertaker hideout, actually held plants. And expensive looking ones at that. A fountain was located in the very center of the hall, adding further to the nice design of the room. Some couches for visitors near the reception desk were present as well. The king somehow entertained the thought that taking a couple of them back to the hideout wouldn't be so bad of an idea, especially since the furniture looked more comfortable than anything he had ever sat on. He was quick to dismiss that ridiculous thought, however. This wasn't a robbery, even though it looked like one. And there was no time for it anyway. Behind the reception desk, which now was vacant, or course, were the elevators Jun and Argo headed to.

"This place looks more like a hotel than an office building." He eventually stated.

"I think it previously was, before it eventually got bought up and redesigned into one. A lot of hotels had to close up after Lost Christmas due to the sudden drop of tourists visiting the country. I heard the company got this building for almost no money at all." Tsugumi explained to him via radio.

"I see. I suppose it's cheaper to buy a building and remodel it to your tastes than building one from scratch."

The very next moment, they all heard an explosion coming from the entrance. Jimmy had summoned his void and used both shoulder mounted cannons of his jetpack to cause one of the pillars near the entrance to collapse. Juan did the same with the one opposite to it. As the tall structures crumbled, the door leading outside got completely sealed off, effectively preventing people to enter…or leave for that matter. They turned around to Shu and gave him a thumbs-up. It seemed like they had the situation perfectly under control.

"Every employee on this floor is being held by my crystals, Shu." Inori informed him quickly.

"Good job, Inori. They can't break out of those, right?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, unless someone helps them or I release them." She explained.

"What about the elevator, Shu?" Yahiro decided to voice his worries. "If they cut off the power while we ride it, we will be sitting ducks."

"Don't worry." Came Tsugumi's reply. "I am already in their system and preventing them to access it. Unless they hid some poor fellow down in the basement to cut off power manually, nothing should happen."

"Then let's go. We are burning daylight here." The king decided and moved forward with Souta. Inori and Yahiro followed with their weapons ready. Funell, too, trailed behind them while emitting a quiet buzzing noise.

The elevator eventually arrived and the small group didn't waste a single second to board it.

Meanwhile, right outside Arisa's office on the top floor, a small group of agents lied in wait for the intruders. Clad in the same black uniform like the secret service that had assaulted the king and his friends at Tennozu High, they aimed their laser guided rifles at the doors of the elevator with two kneeling in front of three additional ones standing behind them.

"Once the door opens, open fire." The one in the middle said.

"But Sir, what about the hostage?"

"Who cares? We will simply tell the boss it was them who fired first, leaving us no other choice."

"If you say so…"

"Quiet, they are here. Get ready."

With a 'DING!', the elevator arrived. And as soon as the doors started to open, the squad leader yelled:

"Open fire!"

And so they did. However, their bullets were not met with the flesh of the victims they expected to ambush, but rather with a cold and hard crystal wall.

"Huh, what is that?"

"The bullets aren't getting through."

"Damn, they saw through us! Retreat!"

Before they could turn around and run, though, the wall was suddenly accelerated into their direction and hit them with so much speed that it caused them to get launched back by the impact. Three of them died on the spot while the other two were taken out by Argo and Yahiro who both came rushing out of the elevator right after Inori had launched the protective wall forward.

"All clear!" They told them after making sure there were no more enemies in sight.

"Look, those guys are definitely the ones that ambushed us while we were waiting for Shu to return from the void realm." Yahiro confirmed as he made sure they were really dead. "Damn bastards."

"That means it was Arisa who was behind it after all." Inori followed his line of thought. She put away the two pistols she was carrying and took one of the rifles from the fallen men instead. Jun followed her example while Hare and Shu decided that they were better off with their small guns.

"Yeah, though that's hardly surprising me anymore. Let's move." Argo said and urged them to press on.

The floor they were on now consisted of little more but the elevator exits and a short hallway with a huge double door at its end, most likely the place Arisa was at. At least according to Souta's info.

Yahiro was the first to reach the door and was ready to open it up once the gang had caught up to him. However, nothing happened as the door was locked shut.

"Really? She thinks that's gonna keep us out?" He grumbled, visibly annoyed.

"The door is reinforced. You won't be able to simply kick it open." Arisa's assistant and currently a hostage explained to them.

"Well, if that's the case, let's use this:" Everyone understood immediately what Argo meant when he pulled a hand grenade out of his bag. Following a "Back off, everyone!", he proceeded to pull the pin and threw the explosive near the door.

As the group took cover around a corner, they didn't have to wait long to hear the explosion that was bound to happen soon after that. The cloud of dust and smoke hadn't even completely cleared yet when Shu's squad rushed in with their guns ready. What they saw once they had entered was a large, luxurious office full of high quality furniture.

The left and right walls were almost completely covered by tall bookshelves filled up with complicated literature. The only free spot on the wall had been reserved by a huge portrait painting of Arisa's late grandfather placed in a beautiful golden frame. In the left corner, an elegant leather armchair rested next to a small coffee table, undoubtedly a place to take a break and read in. Maybe even smoke a cigar. On the floor, a huge, expensive-looking carpet covered the floor and on the ceiling, the small group spotted a chandelier hanging off the center of the room. The very back of the room was made up entirely out of windows, through which you could have a gorgeous view of Tokyo, overlooking quite a good chunk of the city considering how they were at the tenth floor and thus considerably high above ground. They got the feeling this probably had been the former hotel's VIP suit. Looking closely, they could actually see doors to the left and right that would undoubtedly lead to further rooms.

A large desk was positioned in front of the windows with an impressive looking executive chair right between it and the window column. On it, Arisa sat with both her elbows resting on the table and her head calculatingly leaning against the bridge both her hands formed in front of her. Her expression was devoid of any emotions, yet her eyes shot daggers at them. Scary, but they had seen scarier things.

To both her sides, three more agents each stood with their rifles aimed at the group, but Shu didn't let himself get intimidated by just that. He stepped forward with Souta and held his gun against his head.

"Weapons down, or he gets it." He said coldly. Of course he was lying, but neither his, nor Souta's face gave it away, so he felt confident enough in his bluff. He hoped Arisa would rise to the bait, or else things would certainly end up getting messy. Luckily for them, she did.

With an annoyed sigh and a small wave of her hand, she told her men to lower their weapons, which they did.

"A wise choice." The king commended, following to make Souta kneel next to Yahiro, who wordlessly took over the duty of taking care of the hostage.

"Long time no see, Arisa." He eventually continued once he was done.

"Not long enough, I am afraid."

"Nice place you got here. Though it feels like it has more of an old man to it, rather than a young woman."

"Hardly surprising, since it had been my grandfather's once." She replied bitterly as memories of his death came back to her. In an attempt to change the subject, she asked:

"Still treating your friends like crap, I see." She took a short glance at Souta, then shifted her attention back to Shu.

"It was kind of a special case today, given the fact that a normal appointment with you would surely have yielded me an unpleasant surprise." The king countered and pointed at the armed agents next to the head of the Kuhouin group.

"At times like these, you cannot invest enough into security measures. After all, you never know when a bunch of terrorists barge in through your door." She explained with a shrug. "That said, I would have never imagined Hare to join your tyranny. And that dead singer girlfriend of yours is back, too. You must be happy." The smile she offered him could not have looked any more fake.

"Indeed, I am. Even very much so. But I think I don't need to tell you about it. After all, I bet you feel the same about the revival of Tsutsugami Gai. Too bad it won't do you any good."

Raising an eyebrow, Arisa replied with a: "And why is that, I wonder?"

"Simple." The king replied seriously. "It's because you are a fool, gambling the fate of humanity on a small chance of getting the attention of a man who will never look your way." His provocation only earned him a sigh by her.

"Why don't we get to the point here? What is it you want from me?"

"What we want? How about some answers?" Yahiro finally decided to butt in. "We know you are involved in this. Unless I must have imagined the soldiers in black uniform attacking us two weeks ago at Tennouzu High. Soldiers not unlike those currently standing at your side."

"Not to mention that our friend Souta over here just told us you were near the school yesterday night. A place that could only be safely visited if one was either a Mananite or a direct follower of Da'ath." Jun added with a frown.

"Besides,…" Shu finally took back the word again. "Your misplaced obsession with Gai became clear to me ever since you told me you wanted to know everything about him all those years ago. I can't think of a single person on this world who would be more interested in his revival than you." He explained his reasoning with folded arms.

Arisa, however, remained cool. With an indifferent smile she answered:

"That's right. It was all me. So?"

Hare looked shocked at that simply confession. "You won't even deny it?"

"Deny it? Why? It's not like I could cover it up somehow. Nor does it matter if you know. No one would believe you, and the world will end soon anyway. I might as well enjoy this. The futile actions of a false king, who has yet to understand that he has lost already." She chuckled amusedly and threw a look of superiority at Shu.

"Lost? Which one of us is fighting a losing battle here? After all, I am not the one who is willing to sacrifice billions of lives just to bring back a man who always has and always will love another woman." He replied calmly.

The blonde then decided to laugh. "Rich words. Blaming me of being selfish when it's so obvious you would have done the very same thing in my position. Isn't that right, Ouma?"

The king looked taken aback for a second, having not expected that comeback from her, but soon recovered and planted a smirk on his face instead. Giving her a soft chuckle, he responded: "I can't deny that. I pretty much risked everything when I ventured into the void to save everyone. If things had gone south, it could have very well been me who would have set Mana free. But it wasn't. I took a gamble and I won…but then came you…" His smirk immediately turned into a frown as he approached the blonde business woman.

"Kill him." She merely ordered. Her guards took aim, but never got to shoot. A crystal tendril suddenly grew out of the ground behind one of them and pierced him with its pointy end. While the other guards were shocked and confused, trying to adapt to this uncommon situation, the slender crystal pierced yet another one who was trying to shoot it.

"I won't let you hurt Shu…" The pink haired queen calmly stated and swung her hand at the direction of her next target. The crystal structure seemingly mimicked the motion and hit three more guards with a swift stroke, launching two of them against the wall behind them and the remaining unfortunate individual out of the window column to the side instead. A loud scream was heard as he made his way down to his inevitable demise.

"Idiots! It's the girl. Aim for he-" The orders of the sole unhurt soldier were cut off as a pair of shears found their way inside his chest through a supernaturally glowing hole. He barely had the time to widen his eyes in shock before the king mercilessly cut his lifeline.

"You would have to get through me first." He needlessly told him, knowing that the man couldn't hear him anymore anyway. He violently removed the shears and took a threatening glance at the two remaining enemies. They had been in the middle of getting up when they saw the lifeless body of their comrade hit the floor with a dull thud, thus effectively freezing them out of fear instantly. Jun and Argo used the chance immediately to get to them and aim their weapons at them.

"Don't shoot! We surrender!" They told them and dropped their weapons, followed by holding up their hands in defeat. "No amount of money is worth fighting such monsters!"

Arisa didn't say anything, but the look she gave them made it obvious enough that she thought of them as nothing but cowardly imbeciles.

Both Undertakers exchanged a quick glance and nodded at each other. Then they proceeded to use the butt of their looted rifles to knock the surrendered soldiers out of consciousness.

The king offered them a smile, as if to silently tell them "Good job!". Then he returned his attention back to Arisa.

"Now, where were we…"

The blonde now clearly showed signs of being unnerved. Staring at the approaching brunette man in front of her with a mixture of anger and fear, she quickly opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a pistol, not hesitating to point it against him.

"I won't go down without a fight!" She yelled. When she saw Shu stopping, she even allowed herself to grin. Yes, that's right. He wasn't so scary after all. She could do this. With Shu out of the picture, Gai could become king. If she was lucky, she would even be able to gain the void genome from him without dying from her body cells' rejection. Then she could give it to Gai herself!

However, she quickly realized it wasn't that easy. Dozens of sharp crystal needles started to surround her, all aimed at her head.

"Drop it." Inori ordered her. Her voice had the usual calmness to it, yet didn't fail to convey the seriousness in them. "Every bit of pain Shu receives, I will repay tenfold. I am not joking."

Arisa smirked at her. "And if I kill him? Will you kill me ten times?"

Inori's expression suddenly turned dark. "If that happens, I will make you _wish_ for death."

"Hah. That's Mana's vessel for you. Even without her soul, you are still a freak."

"This has nothing to do with Mana. I protect Shu because I want to. I am me."

Shu nodded at that. "That's right. Don't let her get to you. She doesn't even know what she is talking about. And we both couldn't care less what this woman thinks about us anyway." The last bit was more directed towards Arisa, as his cold look easily made it understood.

"I don't understand you…" Inori eventually said to the blonde with a slowly shaking head. "Why is it that you hate us so? It's been so long, and you already had your revenge…wasn't it enough?" She wanted to know. Shu thought it sounded like an honest question and he found himself to be curious about its answer as well. After all, he had decided to let it go all these years ago. Why couldn't Arisa have done the same?

The woman in question lowered her gaze and started to chuckle softly.

"Enough she says…considering the price I paid for pulling it off, do you think I would be content enough with how things turned out? Look at you all. You got everything back…it's as if it never even happened. For something that was meant to be punishment…to be justice…how could I ever accept this outcome!"

She voiced her objections loudly and confidently, but got instantly robbed of said confidence when she saw something flash past her so fast, that she couldn't even make out what it had been. Only after a few seconds, when she noticed that the front part of her pistol appeared to be loose and fell off, looking like it had been cut clean through, was it that she realized it had been the void shears in Shu's hand. She quickly dropped the now useless remains of her weapon out of shock.

"Justice…?" The king's expression looked like a mixture of disbelief and anger. "Justice for what? For confining you? For lying to you? Surely you can't mean my treatment of the students, for no matter how harsh it had been, it sure hadn't been as bad as what you had forced them into after you pretty much sold them out to GHQ."

But Arisa stood her ground against Shu's evil glare. "So what of them? Those who had been in your secret service hadn't been any better than you. They deserved to die together with you. That whole point of the coup d'état should have been to exterminate you and all the people who had suffered your corruption."

"My corruption, huh." The brunette's eyes slowly sunk towards the ground. He actually wanted to point out how wrong she was, but unfortunately, she had a point. He had been a corrupt leader. He may have had his reasons and his actions had eventually turned out to be the means to an end, but that didn't change the fact that there had been grave mistakes. Mistakes he would have avoided if he would have known better, like he did now. But alas, he hadn't.

"Fair enough." They heard Yahiro suddenly agree. "We can't deny that we have made mistakes in the past. But you know, it's always easy to tell someone what they should have done in hindsight. Anyone can go and point out one's flaws after the whole thing is over. So what? You, like many people, seem to assume that leadership is about always making the right decisions. It's not. While it would always be awesome for a leader to make the right call, that simply isn't possible."

"Ah, but it is!" Arisa objected. "If you look at Gai…"

"Gai was the same." Argo interrupted her harshly, not wishing to hear her delusional description of a man she couldn't possibly know as well as he once had. "He certainly was a good man once. A great leader even, striking inspiration and motivation into the hearts of his followers. A single speech from him could raise morale to the roof. And yet, even he failed at times. And not too seldom. People died. Operations ended in failure. Sometimes things ended in catastrophe." He told her, causing her to glare angrily at him.

"And yet you kept following him, right? That's because he is a good leader, unlike Shu."

The king narrowed his eyes on her, but kept silent while Argo answered.

"Ignoring the whole better than Shu thing…yeah. He was a good leader. But that wasn't because he always made the right choice. Rather than that, what truly defines a good leader is the ability to take action regardless of the situation. To always be able to make a decision. It does not have to be the right one. It just has to be the one he believes in. People put faith in their leader because they believe in the things he or she does. The least the leader should do is believe in the things he is doing. There is nothing worse than a leader who starts doubting and hesitating."

Hare nodded and added: "I don't know what happened after I died that day, but one thing I know for sure. No matter how bad a leader you try to make Shu look like…unlike you, he DID take action when no one knew what to do. That's more than you managed to achieve, Arisa."

The blonde visibly disagreed. "Tch…what do you all know…"

"I know…" The king suddenly started. "…that my biggest mistake yet was to let you live. Your actions have cost me so much in the past. At times, I couldn't bear it, and yet I decided to let it go. To leave it all behind. But now, what do I get for this foolishness? Another pending apocalypse. I guess sometimes it just isn't worth doing the 'right' thing, which leaves me with only one choice…" He lifted the shears near Arisa's neck, who backed off slightly, but still held enough courage to not succumb to her fear of death.

"You will tell us what we want to know, or I will correct my mistake of letting you go all these years ago." She heard his demand and narrowed her eyes in protest.

"I will sooner die than to help you or that pet monster you call your queen."

"My, haven't you become quite brave…or is it perhaps that you think I am joking…?" He put more force into pressing the cold blade of the shears against the skin of her neck. Until it drew a bit of blood. "Don't get the wrong idea that I would show mercy on Da'ath. They don't hold back on me, so why should I?"

Inori narrowed her eyes as well. "Why would you die for something stupid like this? This isn't even about Shu and me, is it?"

Her king raised an eyebrow at that, though still not removing the blade. "What do you mean?"

"Her eyes. I know that look. I have seen it for years." She explained calmly. "Loneliness, frustration, envy. All hid behind a façade of arrogance. Mana used to have the same look."

If you thought about it, it actually made sense. Arisa had effectively cut off all her social contacts due to the loop seven incident and her part in it. All the friends and acquaintances she had once had were either dead or wouldn't even look at her anymore after her betrayal. And having inherited the Kuhouin group right after the fourth apocalypse, had only further decreased the chances of her making a fresh start and rebuilding new friendships. A tight schedule of home tutoring lessons in both academics as well as business management had dominated all her free time safe for eating and sleeping. And once that had finally been over. with her officially becoming the head of the group, things had only gotten worse with more things to do and even less time for herself.

Sure, she hadn't been alone completely. She still had had her employees and business partners. Some distant family members also remained…however, that, ultimately, had been all they were. She had been more or less surrounded by them all the time, yet in the end, she had been and still was alone with no friends to call her own. The closest thing to a friend she currently had was Souta…and she wasn't even sure if she was still allowed to call herself his friend anymore. Not after what she had done. Her betrayal of the students of Tennouzu High could have caused his death as well, after all.

There had been one thing that had kept her going, though, despite the loneliness. That was Gai. If she could bring him back and make him king, make him see her, it would all have been worth it. And yet, even though she had come so far, somehow she still felt as if she had made barely any progress at all. Gai was still rejecting her. Had it not been enough yet? Did she have to try harder? To become even more like the monster she envied so much for holding the blonde man's center of attention?

Inori was right, she thought. It really was rather frustrating. But being told that by her of all people…a mere artificially created vessel for the very person standing between her and the man she adored…wasn't it rather funny? Ridiculous even?

It caused her to smirk at her. "Oh, and I suppose you would be an expert regarding human emotions, huh? Please do us all a favor and stop acting as if you knew what you are talking about."

The queen looked hurt for a short moment, but then simply closed her eyes and sighed.

"You are right. I am sorry."

Her king appeared to be bewildered about her words and was quick to voice his objections. "You don't have to apologize, Inori. She is talking nonsense and you know it."

Inori, however, only shook her head slowly.

"No, Shu. She is right. While I do know what frustration and envy are in theory, I have never felt these emotions myself. Thus I can't really claim to know what I am talking about. However…" Her gaze shifted back to Arisa with nothing but pity in her eyes. "After having seen what these feelings could cause people to become…I wish I never get to find out myself."

Shu couldn't help but grin proudly at her once he saw the angry glare her words caused to form on Arisa's face.

"Who do you think you..." she started to say, but got cut off by the brunette king with an annoyed sigh.

"That's quite enough irrelevant words out of your mouth, Arisa, and I am afraid we don't have all day here. Therefore I suggest that you consider your next words carefully, unless you really have a death wish."

He had barely finished telling her that when the group could hear the sound of a helicopter approaching their position. Moments later, they saw said machine hovering near the window column. It turned out to be a military one, of course. And therefore, the first thing they saw it do was aiming its bottom mounted chain gun at them threateningly.

"Terrorist presence confirmed. Got visual on multiple targets and two civilians. Awaiting orders. Over." The pilot reported in via radio.

"Make sure they don't escape. Reinforcements are on their way. Over."

"Roger that. Over and out."

Shu and the gang could then hear the voice of the pilot, being transmitted to them via speakers.

"This is the JSDF. Drop your weapons and surrender! Failure to comply will result in the use of lethal force. I repeat: …"

Shu's group grimaced and looked at each other uncomfortably. This was bad. They were in a big room with little opportunities to seek cover from. If that thing were to fire, things would definitely get really ugly.

Shu threw a quick glance over to Inori and saw her lift her hands slowly while giving him a confident nod. That was all he needed to understand that she would shield them with crystals if necessary. He then quickly forced Arisa, who still was at his mercy, to turn around and hid behind her. Yahiro's void still at her throat.

"I would like to see you applying that lethal force of yours without harming her!" He yelled at the pilot.

"This is your last warning!"

"Oi, oi. Is that guy even listening? What about the hostages?" Argo yelled in disbelief. Shu clicked his tongue. What made the pilot so confident? Either he was desperate enough to go over civilian casualties just to get him and his friends, or…

"Everybody, DOWN!" They heard a familiar voice behind them all of a sudden. Without turning around, they complied. Yahiro quickly tackled Souta down with him while Shu did the same with Arisa. Seconds later, two powerful energy beams passed them by over their heads, breaking the windows and piercing the helicopter behind them. The now burning aircraft then lost control and slowly descended in a spiraling fashion. An explosion followed soon afterwards.

That was the moment the gang finally allowed themselves to turn around to face their savior only to spot an heavily breathing Jimmy standing at the remains of what used to be the doorway of this office. Both cannons on his shoulders emitted a bit of smoke, leaving no room for doubt that they had been the beams' origin.

"Woa, good call, big guy." Jun complimented the man, but he didn't seem to pay any attention to him. His face was clearly showing signs of urgency as he pointed at something behind him.

"The SDF has stormed the building. They are right behind us!" He told them. He had barely finished explaining the situation when they saw Juan flying right past him and into the room with his hoverboard-void.

"I am out of ammo! Void needs to recharge! I blew up parts of the hallway, which should give us a bit of time, but not much."

"Quick, seal the doorway!" Yahiro told them and went over to one of the big bookshelves together with Argo to pull it away from the wall and push it near the doorway. Jun, Juan and Jimmy did the same with another one while Hare stayed near Souta.

"I knew I should have stayed in bed today…" the black haired man mumbled nervously.

"Don't worry, it will be alright." She told him. "Shu and Inori know what they are doing."

"Hah." Arisa couldn't help but utter a mocking laugh at that. "That's the best joke I have heard all day. Don't worry, Souta. They are all as good as dead. Justice will be served at last."

"Damn right it will." They heard Shu angrily mutter as he got up and pulled Arisa up forcibly as well. He then dragged her over to the now destroyed windows, ignoring her heavy resistance in form of kicking and flailing around. Once he reached the edge, he took a hold of the blonde's throat and held her out of the broken window with a serious expression. "And it will start with you."

Panic visibly befell her once she took a glance downwards where still burning remains of the helicopter lied. There were military vehicles in front of the building and people rushing in through the main entrance, but there was no doubt that they would not make it in time for her to be dropped down into her certain death. They were on the tenth floor…not even an Genesis would survive a fall from this height.

"You think my death would mean anything to Da'ath? E-even if I die today, others will take my place. Gai will become the true king!" She told him with her remaining braveness. Shu could easily tell she was forcing herself now. It all looked like a poor act. She wasn't really ready to die. Not yet at least.

"Yeah, well…I doubt that. But even if it was true, you would not be there anymore to witness it."

Meanwhile, the SDF forces had reached the office and tried to make their way in by breaking down the barricade. Jimmy and Juan had assumed a defensive position next to their queen while Argo, Yahiro and Jun took cover behind the armchair and coffee table they had previously placed sideways some meters in front of the now blocked off door. Aiming their weapons, they lied in wait for the approaching enemy.

"Shooting at SDF soldiers…it's wrong…" The former SDF soldier muttered bitterly.

"You can aim for their hands and legs if you want to, just don't expect me or Jun to do the same." Yahiro replied rationally.

"Here they come!" The last of the three eventually alerted them. As soon as the barricade fell, three small cylinders flew into the room, immediately catching their attention.

"Smoke grenades!" Argo identified correctly for them. He had barely said that, when they triggered, filling up the room with a thick smoke screen.

"This is bad." Jun muttered as more and more smoke appeared. Sure, it would eventually get blown away by the wind coming through the broken windows to their backs, but by then, the military would have already gotten through the narrow doorway, effectively robbing them of their only advantage.

"Just take turns firing blindly into the direction of the door. Don't let them get in!"

Suddenly, they heard a loud thud behind them. Turning around, they saw Hare lying on the ground unconsciously with Souta quickly grabbing the pistol she previously held.

"Sorry, Hare, but I can't let this happen." He whispered, following by turning around to Shu, firmly aiming the weapon. "Stop, Shu! Don't do this! There must be another way!"

The king only turned around halfway to see Inori already raising her hands to restrain him.

"Wait, Inori!" He asked of her. The crystals that had already formed at her command and were about to bind Souta immediately stopped moving with their mistress looking at Shu questioningly.

With a confident smirk appearing on his lips, the man in question pulled Arisa back in slowly.

"I have a good idea. Since this woman is so obsessed with her delusions about justice, why won't we let Souta be the judge of that? He has heard of and seen both our sins. Let's let him decide which one of us is more guilty."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Shu…" His queen said worriedly. Jimmy and Juan next to her shared a similar expression.

"Relax. I trust him. He will make the right decision. Right, Arisa?"

The blonde next to him got visibly agitated by his cockiness. The sheer nerve of him to make bets on their lives! Did he think just because he and Souta once shared the bond of friendship, that he would just go and shoot her like she was nothing to him?

It had been HER who had saved Souta from the tyranny of Shu. It had been HER who had given him a job many other would have killed to get. It had been HER who had spent her bloody time with him when a certain other brunette man couldn't even been bothered to make a call every once in a while. Not to mention that she had also gone out of her way to even give him one of Eve's blessings.

She returned his overconfident smirk. That was right. If Souta had had any reason to shoot one of them, it would be Shu, not her. She had done him no wrong. Even though she felt bad about the fact that she risked the man's death when she up and betrayed the students to join Da'ath, she thought she had long since redeemed herself for that. Shu on the other hand had just shown up out of nowhere and used his old friend as a hostage to get to her. He was simply nuts to think Souta would NOT shoot him. The black haired man may have been pretty loyal and tended to be a little stupid at times, but even the most stupid dog never bit its kind master.

"Very well, Ouma. Let's see how this goes."

The king returned his attention towards the black haired man in front of them.

"You heard her, so let's start. Who do you think deserves to die? This selfish traitor, who is willing to sacrifice the whole world just to make some dude she idolizes king of the world…"

"Or this ruthless tyrant who puts even his friends behind his goals. As he did then and still does now." Arisa interrupted him and continued the sentence on her own.

"What are you two talking about? I don't want either to die! Can't we all just calm the fuck down and talk about this?"

"No." The request of the dark haired man was met with firm looks as both, Arisa and Shu, shot it down at the same time.

When Souta was still hesitant, the group around him visibly grew more eager for him to decide. And naturally so, given how Argo and the two Samukawa siblings couldn't hold off the SDF forever.

"What are you waiting for, man? Just shoot the bitch and let's go!" Juan yelled at him.

"Goddamnit, Souta! What's taking so long?" Yahiro yelled as he went back into cover to reload his weapon. "I am down to the last magazine!"

"You think this is fucking easy? We are talking about taking a life here!" He yelled back, followed by shaking his head disbelievingly. "God…why must I have to do this…"

"Look, Souta. We are running out of time, so I will make it easier for you." Shu offered him while holding Yahiro's void near Arisa's neck again. "I will proceed to kill Arisa shortly. If you are in favor of Arisa dying, then do nothing. If you are against it, shoot me. "

Arisa's eyes widened. "What? You can't do th-"

Shu interrupted her. "Souta is the judge, remember? If he thinks my actions are just, he will let me go ahead. If not, he will intervene. It's still the same choice, only with an added time limit."

"Souta, for the love of god. Shoot him!" The blonde quickly asked of him once she realized the seriousness in the brunette's eyes.

"He won't shoot me, Arisa. And you know it. This is the end for you." He confidently said as he was about to slit her throat.

Only to open his eyes wide from shock when he, in fact, heard a shot. Looking at the black haired man in disbelief, he could do little but hold the fresh wound on his abdomen as the blood poured out of him relentlessly.

"I am sorry…so sorry. I just wanted the fighting to stop. Don't hate me, Shu…" Souta babbled with shaking hands. The gun slipped through his fingers and fell to the ground as he just stood and stared while Shu stumbled forward and fell. In fact, that's what everyone in the room did. It was suddenly eerily quiet apart from the gunshots Argo was currently firing to suppress the advance of the military.

"I see…so that is your…choice." They heard the king mutter weakly.

"Shu…?" The pink haired singer's voice was barely audible, close to a whisper. This wasn't happening.

Arisa, too, seemed shocked at first, but was apparently able to get a hold of herself quickly. Looking at Souta, she hastily yelled:

"Souta, do you still have the crystal I gave you yesterday?" Her tone implied it was very important, so he tried to answer her quickly, despite his shock.

"N…No…They took it. I am sorry! I am so sorry…" He fell down to his knees and kept repeating the same words. "So sorry…please forgive me…" It was obvious he wasn't talking about the object anymore. Ignoring his ramblings, the blonde quickly opened the drawer of her desk again and revealed another rose shaped violet crystal. Without any hesitation she threw it to Souta.

"Hold onto it, no matter what!"

While the kneeling man reached for it, Yahiro suddenly yelled out as if in extreme pain. Once everyone turned towards him, they saw him slowly crystalizing.

"Oh god, no! Inori, please! Make it stop!"

"I can't!" She said in a panic, holding both her hands in his direction and apparently trying really hard, yet to no avail. "Once your void breaks, there is no stopping it!" Of course, she was referring to his void that had previously been assumed by Shu. With him gone…well, his void was gone as well.

"Damnit, Souta!" The former drug dealer screamed and aimed his rifle at the traitor, yet never got to shoot as his hand crystalized completely and broke apart. "I can't believe you…" It appeared as if he had wanted to say more, but never got the chance as the crystals consumed him completely.

"Brother!" Jun cried and wanted to reach him, but as soon as he let his guard down, he got shot in the head by an SDF soldier from the opposite direction of the door. Argo was quick to realize what had happened by looking outside.

"Shit! Snipers on the roof opposite to this one!" He told them while trying to hold the SDF off all by himself.

"My queen, we must escape!" Jimmy insisted and was about to grab her only to have his hand slapped away.

"I am going nowhere…" She said determinedly. Pulling out the fist-sized crystal they had taken from Souta earlier, she confirmed that the one Arisa had just thrown to Souta was the same. Then she kneeled and put the object into Funell, who had kept near her all the time.

"But my queen!" Juan objected, only to get silenced by her immediately.

"I promised to stay with Shu forever. I don't care what you say. I will stay. You, however, will bring this back. It's important." She ordered and handed him the small robot containing the strange crystal. "They will probably follow you. Don't fly to our base. Instead, drop him near it, then fly into a different direction. Tsugumi will guide him back herself."

Juan gave her a conflicted look, but given the dire situation they had been in right now, he didn't spend much time overthinking things. She had made her decision. He had to make his.

"As you wish." He eventually nodded and took the robot into his possession. Not wasting another second, he then boarded his flying void and flew out of the office in the blink of an eye. Jimmy covered him by shooting at the sniper on the opposite building with his void cannons.

Inori watched as Argo was then grabbed by the taller man followed by them both flying out of the window, too. It was clear to her, however, that they wouldn't make it as soon as she saw more helicopters approaching and tailing them.

"Freeze, terrorist!" Came the order from one of the armed SDF soldiers that had entered the room now that Argo had stopped firing at them. Arisa and Souta were both now shielded by them. It was over.

Wordlessly, she went over to Shu's body which still lied motionlessly on the floor. The SDF yelled at her again to not move, apparently not understanding what she was hoping to still accomplish. They saw her kneeling next to him and putting his head on her lap, slowly caressing his hair. Only then did she start acknowledging their presence by looking at them.

"Shoot." She demanded of them. When they started looking at her questioningly and even shared confused looks amongst themselves, she raised her right hand and created three little, sharp crystals which she launched on one of them. They hit his leg, stomach and head, killing him in the process. Then she repeated her demand.

"Shoot me."

This time, they weren't hesitant anymore. A single shot to the head ended her life instantly.

"Threat neutralized. Looks like three of them got away." One of them, apparently the squad leader, eventually said into the radio. He didn't have to wait long for a reply.

"Affirmative. We are pursuing them as we speak. Escort the civilians into safety, then report back."

"Understood." He pressed a button on his earpiece to end the communication, followed by making sure that both Arisa and Souta were unharmed, which the blonde confirmed for him. There was the small cut Shu inflicted on her on her throat, but it was nothing serious. Another one of them realized that Hare wasn't dead yet, but merely unconscious, so he restrained her and picked her up to take her with him. While they were on their way back down, Souta didn't talk at all, let alone looked them in the eyes. He just held onto the crystal Arisa had given him and nothing else. The blonde, for her part, looked as if she was deep in thought. A frown formed itself on her face.

Something didn't add up.


	8. Deception

**8\. Deception**

This behavior continued even after they had both been brought downstairs, where a group of soldiers, policemen and medics were present. Apparently everyone had gotten ready for the worst.

No one really needed medical attention, but given the fact that they had little else to do with no one hurt for them to treat, they still examined both Souta and his boss. At the very least, they could treat Arisa's cut on her throat. The young man still didn't say a word, which slightly unnerved her, giving the fact that he usually was hard to ever shut up.

"Hey, Souta. You alright? Snap out of it, please." She told him calmly once they were left alone by everyone.

"I…I am a murderer…" He merely replied, absently.

A sigh escaped her lips. "As much as I appreciate your decision back there and would actually wish for that to be true…you aren't."

"But I…"

"…killed a fake. I am sorry to say that but Ouma has made a fool out of us both." Her expression became dark as she folded her arms in front of her. Souta, however, couldn't help but look at her disbelievingly.

"F…fake?"

"Yep. I noticed after you had killed him. It didn't add up."

"What do you mean?"

"The void genome. Do you remember what happened last time? When he lost his arm five years ago?"

Souta frowned. How could he ever forget? The screams, the blood, the countless silver threads that had come out of his arm and gone over to that weird guy he had never seen befor-

Wait, silver threads…? He opened his eyes up wide in realization.

"So you noticed?" She asked him with a bitter smile. "It was all a feint."

Souta, however,didn't share her bitterness and chose to burst out into laughter instead, slightly confusing his boss next to him. What's gotten into him?

"So no one died? I didn't kill anyone? Thank goodness!" He gave her a smile as bright as thousand suns. This revelation must have relieved him greatly, Arisa figured. Sighing at him, she said:

"Well, it's probably better that way."

He couldn't help but raise a brow at that. "Huh, don't tell me…you realized that fighting each other is stupid and that we all should get along again?" For a short moment, he allowed himself to hope, only to let his hopes get crushed by her sharp glare at him.

"Hell no. His death would have been ideal for all of us. But given the circumstances, you would have probably died as well, which would have been regrettable." Her expression became somewhat sad during the last bit of her explanation. This got Souta rather surprised.

"Huh? Died? How?"

"Not many people can wield the void genome. If you kill its possessor, you gain the right to wield it yourself. However, chances of your body rejecting it are high. If it does, you will get selected out."

"But…if not…I would have become a king. Like Shu?"

"In theory, yes. You would have taken his place."

Souta narrowed his eyes on her suspiciously. "'In theory', eh? So you don't think I could be king, is that it?"

"Frankly speaking, yes."

He blew up his cheeks angrily, folded his arms in front of his chest and looked away into the opposite direction of her.

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence." His pouting didn't last, however, and got replaced by a sigh. "Then again…I wouldn't want to take Shu's place anyway. Not if it means he has to die…"

Arisa gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair like one would with a dog.

"That's exactly why you aren't cut out to be king. Don't worry, though, you have other qualities."

"Such as…?" He asked her with one closed eye, since she had still been messing with his hair.

This got her actually thinking. She remembered what he did the night before when Nanba and his thugs had showed up. And she also considered what he had done just now.

"Hmmm, you have a kind heart and are quite brave, so…a knight, maybe?" she offered him, which made him grin proudly.

"Awesome, I made it out of the pet-zone."

The blonde held back her laughter. She wasn't so sure if he becoming a knight would rule out the possibility of him still having the traits of a dog.

"Ah, by the way, what is the crystal about?" he wanted to know by pointing at the object he still held in his hands. "It seemed to be important to you earlier. That I have it, that is."

Her expression quickly became serious again. "That thing is your life insurance, Souta. It's called 'Eve's blessing' and will guarantee you will make it through evolution on the expense of someone else's life. Just like how Hare came back after she died to the virus, only that she didn't need a blessing." She explained carefully.

However, Souta merely looked at her confusedly. "You lost me at evolution."

She couldn't help but sigh in frustration. "Let's go home. We won't be doing any work today anyway, so I might as well take the day off and fill you in on the details."

"Yes, please do." He agreed, having had enough of being kept in the dark for so long.

Before they could leave, Arisa had to do the obligatory check on every one of her employees to make sure they were alright and accounted for. After that, she gave the military a detailed explanation of what had happened today. Only once all that was done were they all allowed to leave. Due to the fact that half of her employees had asked to take a temporary leave after the recent events and her expectations for the other half to just silently not show up for work anymore from now on, she decided to close up the office until further notice. It looked like doing business had to wait for after the apocalypse, much to the delight of her employees, since they would still get paid.

That had a simple reason. It was simply cheaper to continue paying them for this month than firing them all only to be forced to rehire the whole staff after the apocalypse would occur. Sure, some of them would die anyway, but having to replace half of them was still better than replacing them all.

On their way out, they noticed how a couple of soldiers were freaking out over the disappearance of the terrorist they had captured alive. One guy was getting scolded for letting his guard down and presumably letting her escape. Little did they know that she had not escaped but vanished from existence as a whole. Their searches were thus nothing but wasted effort.

"He probably used a void like the one he used back in Tennozu. The one of that little, cheeky girl with black hair." Arisa thought out aloud, but only so that Souta could hear.

"Uh…shouldn't we tell them?" Souta wondered aloud, though careful not to let anyone hear. The blonde merely sighed in return and shook her head with a shrug.

"It doesn't matter if they know or not. They are useless anyway."

Silence surrounded them then as they left the busy scene behind. Arisa made a call for her chauffeur to come and pick them up. As they waited for the car to arrive, she noticed him grinning for some reason and couldn't help but ask him about it.

"I know you don't approve, but I sure as hell am happy that no one really died today." He told her.

"Seriously, even though they used you as a hostage…" She narrowed her eyes on him.

"Yeah, but well…I suppose that's just the kinda world we live in. Can't be helped if he gets branded a terrorist and you join some secret cult or something."

"Well, considering how you are about to learn more classified information of that 'cult', you better be ready to consider yourself a member, too. Or they might terminate you."

"T-terminate?" He took a few steps back in shock. "You know…maybe I shouldn't join after all…" He nervously said and was slightly reluctant to continue following her.

"You don't have to worry about that. I will protect you. Just like you saved me today. You did good today, Souta. Really good. Consider this to be your promotion." She told him with a smile. She wouldn't downright admit it to him, but she was happy he chose her over Shu. It felt…surprisingly good to know that someone was genuinely on her side for once and not just because she was paying their paychecks. She did not know why he chose her over him and she wasn't sure if she should really care. What she KNEW, though, was that he considered Shu his friend for some reason. And if he had been ready to shoot him in favor for her surviving, then that had to mean something, right?

She didn't need many friends. Just one loyal one like Souta would suffice. She would make sure at least he would survive the apocalypse, and the best way to do that was to fill him in on everything. She didn't care if Da'ath were to object. She was in a high enough position to make selfish requests like that. And who knew, maybe after hearing all the details, he would even understand that Gai was the superior king and would choose to support her? It was worth a shot.

"Well, if you put it that way…" He nervously scratched the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. "I guess I can't refuse."

"Damn right, you can't." From the corner of her eye, she saw her black limo approaching. "There is the car. Get in."

The chauffeur parked the car next to them, got out and opened the door for them. The dark haired man was about to get in, when he suddenly felt his mobile vibrate inside his pocket. Pulling it out and reading the caller ID, he quickly gave his boss an apologetic smile and said:

"Ah, sorry. It's my mother. The incident probably is already all over the news. She must be worried. May I…?"

"Of course…just make it short, please. I will be waiting in the car." She told him with an understanding nod and got in, letting the chauffeur close the door behind her. Bowing to her in gratitude, Souta turned around and distanced himself a bit to have privacy. After I few steps worth of distance, he then decided to answer the call.

"Goddamnit, Shu! Couldn't you have at least told me beforehand that it was all fake? I nearly had a heart attack!" He whispered into the phone angrily.

"No can do. It had to look authentic, no?" He heard the king chuckle in response.

"You think that's funny?" The salary man was clearly not amused.

"You are right. Sorry. It still had to be that way, though."

"So everyone is fine, right? No one's hurt?"

"I used Tsugumi's void, Souta. No one was even really there."

"I know…it's just…damn. It looked so real…"

"That was the point." There was a short pause. "So, you got what you wanted. I spared Arisa."

"Yeah. Thanks, Shu. I can't say I really understand this whole Da'ath business completely yet, but I know I asked much of you, with her aiding these guys you are after and all."

"It's good that you understand. So you better keep your end of the bargain. Letting her live poses a high risk for me and everyone else. Make it worth it, Souta." He sounded awfully serious, giving him to understand that this was no game.

"I get it, alright? I will tell you everything she tells me like I promised. In return you won't go after her, right?"

"If Da'ath falls before she does, there will be no reason for us to kill her. Even though she very well deserves it. She is willing to let countless people die, Souta. The sole reason the apocalypse virus returned is all because of her. And all that to revive a man who should have stayed dead."

"You say all that, but just as Arisa said earlier: if I remember the you from before, right after GHQ'S fall, I bet you would have done everything in your might to do the same for Inori." Souta replied firmly, slightly satisfied when Shu appeared to find no words to deny his claim. He could almost picture him frowning on the other end of the line.

"Just keep us posted about Da'ath and try to keep her away from us. I can't make any promises to keep sparing her if she continues to be a threat to us." Shu apparently decided to change the subject.

Souta nodded, even though he knew the transmission was audio only and thus made it impossible for Shu to see it. "I will try my best. You do, too. Stay safe."

"You, too, Souta. And just one thing, to make sure: I don't mind that you decided to remain between the fronts. Who you choose to be your friends is solely your business, not mine. I respect that. But I have to warn you: We are going after Da'ath. If you decide to align yourself with them, you will be forcing our hand. When that happens, I hope that you will be smart enough to never cross paths with us again."

The black haired man gulped nervously.

"You sure got the terrorizing thing figured out, Shu." He told him jokingly.

"I am serious. Friendship is important, but don't expect it to save you once you have changed sides."

"Have you so little faith in me, Shu? Do you think I would ever betray you?" Souta sounded angry and hurt.

"I do believe in you. However, I also believe that staying neutral will eventually stop being an option for you. Sooner or later, you will either have to choose a side or run. When the time comes, I hope you think carefully and consider all the possible consequences."

Souta was quiet, unable to think of a possible way to reply. The horn of a car eventually made him come back to his senses. Taking a quick glance behind him where Arisa's limo was still waiting for him, he gave the driver an apologetic grin and signaled him that he would be done in just a moment.

"I have to go now, Shu. Greet everyone for me, okay?"

"Will do. Looking forward to hear from you again."

"Yeah…"

With that, the dark haired man pressed the button to end the call and kept looking at his phone's holo screen with a troubled expression. Having to choose sides? Would he really have to? And if so…would he be able to choose in the first place? A frustrated sigh escaped his lips.

He put his phone away and started to make his way back to the car. That's when he realized he had forgotten to tell Shu about that strange crystal Arisa had given him. Cursing mentally, he tried to make sure he would remember to do that later. For now, he would hate to let his friend down with not providing information as he promised. Especially since it would also look like he was working with the enemy and thus could possibly put his life at risk.

But then again…if he joined Da'ath and they found out he was going to spy for Shu…wouldn't they do the same to him? He suddenly regretted having gotten into all this mess, but it couldn't be changed anymore. He had to make the best of it now. He just hoped it would work out somehow.

The driver got out of the car and opened the door for him. As soon as Souta had taken his seat next to Arisa, he closed it again and went back to the driver's seat. The car then proceeded to drive off into the direction of the Kuhouin mansion with Souta worringly looking out of the windows into the distance.

A worrisome future awaited him.

-GC-

Back at the Undertakers hideout, Shu turned off his phone and put it away. Turning around, he saw the round table of the meeting room standing in the center of the former lounge with Inori, Jimmy and Argo sitting at it, eyes closed as if asleep. In the middle of the table rested Tsugumi's void, giving off a slight bluish glow and a couple slim silver threads. Tsugumi and Ayase were seated at the table as well, though unlike their colleagues, they were wide awake as they kept staring at the computer screen in front of them. Behind them stood Hare, Yahiro and his little brother, although they weren't particularly paying attention to the holo-screen and were rather casually talking about something else instead. The grin the older of the brothers had plastered on his face made it clear that whatever it was that they were talking about was most likely something amusing. Juan was nowhere to be seen, but Shu knew he had already left the room to go and grab something to eat. It didn't really matter, though. They were done for the moment with their operation being more or less a success.

The king yawned and massaged his tired muscles, which had gotten a bit stiff after all the sitting he had gone through just now. In fact, they all had while they had been in the sleep-like state Inori, Jimmy and Argo currently still found themselves to be in.

In order to control the puppets created by Tsugumi's void directly without delay, they had all been required to send their consciousness into them, leaving their real bodies 'unattended' for a while. It wasn't dangerous or anything, though. If disturbed, the mind would always return back to the body and abandon the puppet. In that sense, you could probably call it meditation in order to let your mind wander outside its normal bonds.

As to why they did that instead of letting Shu control all of them remotely…well, that was actually easy to explain. Controlling one clone remotely consumed the void user's stamina. And while one puppet wasn't consuming much of it, the amount would naturally rise with every additional puppet created. However, if others were to direct the additional clones themselves, the energy drain would be covered by themselves as well. That way, you could divide the strain equally amongst all participants.

But that wasn't the only reason. For, you see, Tsugumi's void was a rather fine one. Not only could it create exact replicas of people and things, it could also simulate their powers. However, no matter how amazing that sounded, that extra ability also came with a price in form of additional energy drain. And the more powerful the recreation of the ability was and the more it was used by a puppet, the more it tired the user out.

Additionally, while the stamina consumption for controlling puppets could be shared with others, the actual strain of recreating abilities was to be solely shouldered by the void's user, which naturally ended up to be Shu. This meant that whenever a puppet used its void, the void genome or even Eve's power, it would inevitably tire him out faster, no matter who it actually was that actually controlled the puppet in the first place. That was the void's greatest weakness.

Where voids such as Inori's or Yahiro's had a clear defined power that could theoretically be used by even the weakest of people as long as they were able to wield them, Tsugumi's one had a bottleneck, which was dependent on the user's actual endurance. While in theory, it could be possible to create an army of Inoris with intact crystal controlling abilities, you could only get as far as your physical condition actually allowed it. In case of Eve's power, Shu wouldn't even be able to keep one puppet around for more than 10 minutes of combat. That's how demanding it was to recreate her ability. Not even recreating voids was as tiring as that. He wondered if the actual power was as tiresome to use as it was for him to recreate it. If so, he had to admit that Inori must probably have been even more amazing than he had previously thought.

Speaking of the devil, it was right then that the pink haired queen opened her eyes again. Offering her a kind smile, he said:

"Welcome back."

She blinked a few times at him sleepily, before the sleepiness immediately seemed to leave her. Her eyes opened wide and she made an expression as if she had just remembered something horrible, followed by getting up and embracing Shu hastily.

"Shu!"

Looking rather surprised by the sudden action, he awkwardly returned the hug.

"Woah, what's the matter?"

He felt her shaking her head in his arms. "I am just happy you aren't dead."

This made his previous smile return on his lips. "You didn't have to worry about that. You knew it was all fake from the start, didn't you?"

"Yes, but seeing it happen still felt…painful. Even though I knew it wasn't real." She explained, which he understood completely. He would actually feel the same if he had to see her die again, even if it was just for show.

He gently stroked her head. "There is no need to worry. No one of us will ever have to see something like that again." Hopefully. He didn't utter the last word, which was probably for the best, seeing as Inori gave him a content smile in return as she enjoyed his gentle touch.

"Flirting in broad daylight again, aren't you?" Tsugumi suddenly butted in while looking at them with a teasing smirk.

"Get a room, you two." Yahiro agreed with a chuckle, to which Ayase merely narrowed her eyes.

"They have one. Just ain't using it, is all."

The queen turned around to them, looking as if she were to disagree.

"Lies. We are putting it to good use, right Shu?" She looked up to him, seeking confirmation, only to be surprised when she saw him turning slightly red instead. At the same time, the gang suddenly decided to bust out into laughter, which in return, confused her even more. Did she say something funny?

"Yeah, Shu. Tell us about it. Leave no details out!" The strategist of the terrorist group said between fits of laughter.

"Oooohhh! Should I tell Haruka-mama, that she is going to be 'Haruka-grandma' soon?" The dark haired hacker added with a mischievous smirk.

Jun, too, had a playful expression on his face as he assumed a thinking pose. "So was that the reason our king looked this tired lately?"

"Sleeping! She was talking about sleeping, alright?" The king tried to let his voice get through to them, which certainly was no easy feat given the sheer volume of their laughter.

"Sure she did, pal." Yahiro replied, still smirking and causing Shu to sigh in defeat. Screw these guys, really. Inori merely tilted her head and frowned, trying to understand the whole situation in the first place.

While the gang was still enjoying themselves, Argo finally woke up. And not too quiet, either. Without a warning, he just opened up his eyes suddenly and jumped out of his chair with a loud yell. He had barely even gotten up when he was already checking his body for injuries or something. He appeared to be in quite a shock, really. After he made sure that he was alright, though, he relaxed a bit, letting his shoulders slump as he uttered a single sigh of relief. Then he turned around to face Jimmy, who had woken up rather calmly compared to him.

"You fucking dropped me! Are you out of your mind?" He yelled at him while taking a hold of the man's collar.

Jimmy gave himself unimpressed. "Yeah, I did. So?"

"So? You think I enjoyed falling down into my certain death?"

"You look fine to me." He stated as he raised a brow. "Look, it was just meant to look like it was real, so I did what I would have usually done when I grabbed you to flee. But as soon as we were gone, there was no more need to keep up the act. And since we were just assuming control of void puppets which would vanish afterwards anyway, I just figured it would be fine to just dispose of them. Besides, you could have just severed the connection before you would have hit the ground. Dunno why you didn't."

"You can do that? Sure as hell would have been great to know that beforehand!" The former SDF soldier grumbled as he let him go. "Well, guess I now know how it's like to die at least. Even though I don't know what good it will do me."

That caused the American to send a grim look his way. "Oh, you have no idea how it really feels like to die, man. You really don't. A puppet's death is painless, but a fall from such height in reality…you would actually hope you won't survive it just to avoid struggling your last minutes in intense pain. Trust me. I've been there. It's horrible."

Jun nodded understandingly. "There were quite a few people back in the void realm who suffered such a severe trauma from it, that they never used their flying voids again. I was told it's not pretty."

"Woah, really?" Argo looked at them surprisingly, with a bit of pity mixed into it. "That sounds awful."

"The worst part about It is that you actually get used to it eventually. You learn how to collide with the ground in such a way that it would certainly kill you."

"That's fucked up." Suddenly Argo felt bad about making such a fuss about his clone's involuntary parachute dive just now, only without the parachute.

"Yeah…so anyway, did we succeed?" Jimmy then decided to drop the topic and move on to more interesting matters by addressing his king and queen.

Considering how Inori had just woken up as well, she, too, looked at Shu for an update of the whole situation.

"Well, we got that crystal Souta had at least. Only time will show how useful Souta will turn out to be as a spy, though." The king explained them calmly.

"Speaking of which. I just managed to guide my little Funell back home safely. No one saw him, no one followed him and the object of interest is also still inside him." Tsugumi announced proudly as she shut down her computer in front of her. Another job well done.

"Good work. Now Inori can probably figure out what it's supposed to do." Yahiro commented with a content nod.

"Yes." The queen herself confirmed. "Also, Arisa had another one like it back in her office and gave it to Souta." She told them all.

"There must be a reason she wants him to have it, then." Hare concluded, followed by uttering a heavy sight upon realizing that there was no way for them to know what the actual reason was since the woman in question had refused to tell them anything.

"I still think we should have killed her." Argo voiced his opinion grumpily with folded arms. "She's confirmed to work for the enemy, so why did we spare her? Just because some guy asked us to?"

"Of course not." The king was quick to avoid any misunderstandings. "The original idea was to finish her off before she could become a problem again, but then I realized that it would do us only little good. Da'ath would replace her quickly, and then we would be back at square one with us not knowing who their new ally would be. Just like things had been after GHQ fell. However, if we had a spy to leak information from her to us, we might actually gain something far better out of it than we would have gotten if we had gone with the original plan of killing her."

"That's smart." Jimmy admitted. "If that guy can be trusted, that is."

Yahiro sighed at that. "You never know with Souta. I would say our chances are 50/50 on this one working out to our favor. I am still kinda surprised he had actually shot Shu back there."

"Yeah, well that's what I told him to do earlier, right before we went into the building. 'When in doubt, just shoot me.' Though I would not have blamed him if he would have killed Arisa instead. That had been our original intention anyway." Shu told them.

"In the end it will boil down to whether Da'ath will be able to brainwash him or not." Ayase thought out aloud.

Tsugumi couldn't help but smirk at that. "Well, there is nothing to worry about then. Da'ath can't wash what isn't there in the first place."

A few chuckles followed that statement.

"Poor Souta." Hare said with a small smile.

"Anyway…" Shu decided to clear his throat to get back to business. "I think we should all take a quick break before we come together to decide on our next move. Honestly speaking, I am quite beat. Let's meet up in a few hours again." He suggested as he absorbed Tsugumi's void back from the center of the table, as it was no longer needed. When he saw them all nod in agreement, he started to head towards the door. However, before he could reach it, the gang saw him stumble and fall flat on his stomach. At first they thought it had been mere clumsiness, but when they saw him struggling to get up, they all started to worry.

"Shu, are you okay?" Inori was the first to be at his side, trying to help him up by letting him lean on her.

"I…I am fine. Just tired." He told her with a smile. He looked down on his hand and clenched it, feeling disappointed to see how unresponsive his muscles had become. It felt like he had done nothing but carrying around heavy stuff for an entire day and his legs weren't feeling any better, either. He could not remember the last time he had felt this worn out and started to wonder if their plan to use Tsugumi's void had been such a good one in the first place.

"Is it because of…me?" She asked him worriedly, well aware of the void's drawback. He had told her to use her powers as she would normally do, but seeing him like this now, she wondered if she shouldn't have held back a bit more.

"Nah, don't be silly. Turns out we were too greedy when we decided to go in with eight people." He told her as he slowly got up. He could tell from the skeptical look she was sending him that she wasn't believing him at all, though. Well, who was he trying to fool? Inori may have been ignorant about some things, but that didn't mean she was anywhere close to being stupid. Of course she understood that the most demanding thing about recreating their abilities had been his own one and hers. And since he had already used clones of himself in the past without facing such severe after effects, it became more than obvious that the cause for his current state had been her.

"Ah, can I, perhaps, help in any way?" Hare offered, ready to draw her void, only to see Shu shaking his head slowly.

"It's just tiredness, Hare. It will go away after a nap. You'll see. Thanks for the offer, though. I appreciate the thought."

"I will bring him to his room." Yahiro offered as he approached Shu, but Inori stopped him.

"No, I will do it. It's my fault to begin with." Still holding Shu, she kneeled on the ground and touched it with her right finger. A small, slim crystal started to grow right in front of the place she was touching. It was rather flat and grew into the direction of the door, where it slit through right below it and presumably continued to grow into the direction of their room. When it was done, it sort of looked like a small cable lying on the floor.

"I will be back in a bit, please bring the crystal we received from Arisa here, so I can have a look at it then." She asked of them kindly and held onto Shu more tightly.

"Aye, Aye, Ma'am!" Tsugumi jokingly saluted to her and went off to look for her little robot she had parked in her communications office. Her antics earned her a small smile from Inori.

The king gave them a smile as well.

"See you guys later."

With that, Inori touched the small structure she had just created and they both simply vanished in a flash with two small lights appearing on the crystal in their stead. The lights quickly traveled through it with such speed, that you would have missed them if you blinked. From one moment to the next they were gone. Ayase made no secret of her astonishment after seeing that.

"Whoa, that's amazing!"

The older Samukawa brother agreed with a short whistle. "No kidding."

"I don't think anything about Genesis surprises me anymore…" They heard Argo mumble quietly while massaging the back of his neck. "Good thing Tsugumi didn't see that or she would be obsessed with finding out how that works in order to use the gained knowledge for another one of her projects."

"I don't think you can recreate it with science. At least not easily." Jun told him with a shrug.

"That doesn't mean it would keep her from trying." The brunette woman in her wheelchair said while putting her right elbow on one side of the chair and letting her head rest on her hand.

The medic among them eventually decided to pipe up.

"Anyway, since Shu is taking a break, I think I will do so, too. Or try to at least, before someone gets hurt again and calls for me." She sent a knowing look into Argo's direction, who only tried to shrug it off with an awkward smile.

"No worries there. I will go grab a bite now anyway. I am starving, so no training for now."

"Bet your recruits are awfully happy about that?"

"Probably at least as happy as your medic team is." He jokingly told her. Together they left the room with Jimmy right behind them.

"I guess I will follow the example of my king and go take a nap…"

And with that, he was gone as well. Yahiro only shook his head at them disapprovingly.

"Would you look at these slackers? There is a lot of work to do, you know."

"Give them a break, brother. They just participated in a mission." His younger brother tried to reason with him.

"So did you two." Ayase argued against them with a rather bored expression. "I fail to see why they need a break when it was Shu who ended up being the one to get exhausted the most. Though it's that idiot's own fault for going too far again. If he had allowed me to take my Endlave out there to provide support, maybe…" She rambled on while blowing up her cheeks in a rather cute pout.

"You must be joking." Yahiro disagreed. "Risking our only Endlave unit for such a trivial mission. No way."

The brunette girl was quick to grit her teeth at him while also sending him the darkest of her stares.

"It's not 'risking it' as long as I am piloting it."

Giving himself totally unaffected by her antics, he merely replied to her with a deep, frustrated sigh, acting as if he was dealing with an annoying kid here.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"You know." Jun then decided to say with an innocent smile. "You two sure ain't like Shu and Inori, but you still are adorable together in your own way."

They both narrowed their eyes on him and replied in the same, annoyed tone:

"Shut up, Jun."

Only to raise one brow at each other once they realized they had said the same thing at the same time.

"See? Cute." The younger brother snickered and patted his elder brother's shoulder as he passed them by, heading for the door.

"If possible, I would like to have a cute little niece first, alright?" He told them with a playful grin before rushing through the door and closing it behind him, already anticipating the notepad his brother would grab from the table in front of him and throw at him out of anger.

"'Cute little niece', my ass!" He had yelled after him at the same time. Followed by sighing deeply. "Honestly, that brother of mine."

"He is a good kid." Ayase admitted once he was gone, being able to look past the obvious attempts at teasing them. "You must be happy to have him back."

"Sure am." Yahiro admitted honestly and even smiled a little. "I just hope he doesn't think I am not happy just because I get angry with him sometimes."

"I think he understands. He appears to be a smart fellow."

"Yeah, you are probably right." He told her with a shrug. "You seem to be holding up pretty well, by the way."

She raised a brow at him. "What do you mean?"

He went over to the door to pick the notepad up, then returned to the table to put it back where it belonged, followed by taking one of the now vacant seats next to her.

"Shu and Inori. I know you liked the guy. I don't know how he couldn't notice for all these years, even if he was blind."

Ayase's face turned a faint shade of pink and she considered getting angry out of the assumption of getting teased again, but once she saw his serious expression, she realized he was voicing his honest concerns, so she calmed down and sighed instead.

"Well, he never really let Inori go, so it didn't come as much of a surprise. We were all thinking he should, but then it turned out we were wrong all along. Now it's actually better he never realized, as it saved us a lot of awkwardness in the end." She told him her opinion. Her hands were folded together on top of her lap while she was looking down on them sadly.

"I see. Must be hard on you."

"It is, but there is nothing I can do about it. I am not going to do something foolish like competing with Inori."

"That's probably for the best. Don't worry, though. There will be other men." He tried to console her.

A bitter smile formed on her lips. "People keep saying that, but I am not seeing it. I am probably better off giving up on love altogether."

"This might sound crazy, coming from me, but you can't really give up on love. It will just happen whether you like it or not."

"Hoh?" The brunette girl put on a smirk as she raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "That sounds like you have experience in that."

To her disappointment, he merely shook his head while offering her a small smile.

"Nope. Love is hard to come by, I am afraid. I had my share of women during the last 5 years, but yeah…in the end, they weren't the right ones."

"Probably because you were picking them up by showing them wanted posters of yourself." Ayase suggested with narrowed eyes, remembering their earlier conversation that day. The brunette man couldn't help but chuckle in return.

"Well, I won't deny that. Though if there would have been one that really sparked my interest, I wouldn't have resolved to cheap tricks to get them in bed, you know."

"Hmph…at least you got that far. Good for you." He heard her mumble while averting her gaze with an annoyed expression.

"Well, you have quite the strong personality, so it's not surprising not many men would be able to handle you."

"So I guess that means it's my fault?" She asked him while looking at him angrily, but he merely shook his head to calm her down.

"Not at all. It's their problem for being weak."

"Exactly." She agreed with a proud grin. "Though it's funny because it sounded as if you considered yourself to be stronger than them."

Now it was his turn to grin proudly at her. "Oh, that's because I am. I am stronger than them all. Well, except Shu, maybe. Can't beat that guy, I am afraid." His grin transformed into a weak smile during the last bit.

"Well, your ego sure is strong, that's for sure." She giggled slightly at him. For some reason this made him smirk at her.

"Wow, I will be damned. You actually can be cute if you try."

Her giggles immediately subsided and were replaced by a scary glare with him as its target.

"You trying to make fun of me?"

"Nevermind, you ruined it." He told her with a disappointed sigh. "You know, you could try to accept compliments for a change. Could definitely help you with the men."

That made her stop and blink at him a few times out of surprise.

"Wait, so you were serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I figured you would be the kind of woman who would see right through cheap flattery. Was I wrong?" He asked her with a shrug. She was quick take a straight posture and yell:

"O-of course not!" With her face slightly getting redder, she looked into the opposite direction and added a quiet "Thank you.", earning her an amused smile from him in return.

"See? That wasn't so hard. You are welcome."

That was the moment Tsugumi finally returned with Funell in her arms.

"I am back, everyo-…oh, what the hell? They are all gone. And what is this?" The small girl was a seasoned veteran when it came down to teasing her best friend, so she didn't need long to notice the lively color Ayase's face emitted right now. A knowing smirk appeared on her lips.

"My, my. Could it be that I came at a bad time? I could leave again, if you want to…" She told them while walking out backwards through the same way she had just entered. Since she could see her brunette friend's face glow even more, she decided to top it off with an encouraging:

"Work hard!"

"For what!?" Came Ayase's furious response as she grabbed the notepad Yahiro had thrown earlier only to mimic the very same action. Unfortunately, Tsugumi was long gone before the object could hit her and so it was met with the door instead. For the second time that day.

"She is a good girl." Yahiro decided to say with a soft chuckle as he observed the heavily breathing Ayase next to him. "You must be happy to have her."

"I'd rather have herpes." She grumbled angrily, still looking at the door Tsugumi disappeared through. Her response, however, caused the brunette man to laugh. And soon enough, she couldn't help but join him as well.

It was times like these that made them and every other Undertaker forget that they were terrorists. That they were penniless and hated by the whole nation. That the world could end any time now, razed down by the apocalypse virus.

In these moments, they were simply happy. Happy to have their friends, family and loved ones near them. Happy to have made it through another day. To be alive.

If they knew one thing for sure, then it was that these times had to be cherished. If you asked yourself why, then the answer was quite simple:

It was the simple fact that in the way their lives turned out to be now, happiness such as this could become sadness quite easily.

And once smiles turned into frowns, it would get hard to turn them around again.

Thus they hoped for the best. That they would get through these hard times safely. That they would win.

However, they did not yet know that they would need all the hope they could get for the things that would lie ahead of them.

The fight against Da'ath had only just begun…


	9. Relentlessness

**9\. Relentlessness**

About two hours after the Kuhouin headquarter invasion, things had started to look really grim at the Narita Airport. Major General Takeshi Iwamoto, the general in charge of the SDF forces stationed inside Tokyo, was very displeased with the performance of his subordinates responsible of the blunder which could be seen all over the news right about now. No matter if TV, radio or internet…the media was openly criticizing the actions of the SDF who not only had allowed terrorists to attack a public building in a zone they had previously declared to be safe, but also had they failed to capture said terrorists. To sum it up: The situation was an utter mess and as a result, people started losing their faith in the military, which was simply unacceptable.

For that reason, he had summoned the three responsible people into the airport's control tower, where the SDF had set up their control center. The reason for this was easy to explain. With the quarantine in effect, no one was to leave or enter Tokyo. And with that being the case, there obviously was no need for the airport anymore. However, with its enormous size, the availability of an airfield as well as the basic equipment to manage it, it naturally became a good place to set up a base in. Even more so now that the Japan's closest actual military base lied outside the quarantine zone and thus could not be used unless the zone was expanded, which obviously was not an option.

So, the airport it was instead. While not ideal for the SDF, they had made it work somehow. Now back to the actual problem.

On the highest floor of the tower, in front of a large desk, General Iwamoto sat with a rather angry expression. The windows around him allowed him to overlook the whole airport, yet he chose to glare at the three people in front of him mercilessly instead. The first one to his left was a young lieutenant with glasses and tidily kept brown hair. The other two shared the same rank, but the one in the middle was slightly older, wore an eye patch on his left eye and had some burn marks surrounding the area around it. His black hair was rather long, yet could still just barely meet the regulations of the military. It seems he got a bit of a special privilege to let it grow a bit so that it would hide the burn marks a bit, given the fact that they looked slightly scary. The last one of them looked like a serious, no-bullshit man with square glasses and sharp eyes. His hair was black and slightly spiky, but still not enough to be called unruly or anything. Nervously they stood in a highly attentive form in front of him. Their lieutenant rank was clearly visible from their uniforms alone and the hats which came along with them were held at their left side to show their respect while standing in front of an even higher ranked officer than them. Around them were other, lower ranked people, sitting at desks and observing computer screens and occasionally talking into their headsets and phones. That much had been unavoidable, given the fact that this was the control center and not Iwamoto's personal office. And though it was slightly reassuring to not be alone with the scary looking general right now, it was also of little help since they knew that they could not help them in any way.

"…Gentlemen, do you have any idea why I called you here?" Iwamoto eventually said, looking at each one of them with his brown, piercing eyes. They were eyes that had clearly seen a lot in their life already, giving away the feeling of authority and experience that could only come with age. In his 43 years of living on this ill-fated home country of his (pretty much all of them spent serving in a military position ever since the early age of eighteen), he had seldom seen an operation go so horribly wrong. In fact, he had actually thought his already slightly graying, formerly dark hair would lose its color completely from shock once he actually heard about the results, but fortunately for him, at least that much could be avoided.

"…"

His subordinates, though all very aware of the reason, did not dare to actually voice it. Instead, they chose to gulp loudly or wipe their sweat off their foreheads.

From the corner of his eyes, he looked at his female secretary standing attentively behind him without turning around to her. "Miss Shibanuma, would you kindly turn on the TV for a second?"

Following the order with a short "Yes!" and a bow, the young uniformed woman took out a remote from her pocket and pressed a button. A big holo screen suddenly awoke to life in the middle of the room, showing familiar scenes from in front of the Kuhouin headquarters. A news reporter was to be seen, talking about things such as "ridiculous rescue operation by the JSDF" or "failure to capture terrorists yet again". While the camera showed scenes of destruction and the discontent of interviewed individuals, captions like "Small group of terrorists make a fool out of the military" and "Ouma Shu and accomplices still on the run" could be read. The things the people mentioned in the interviews were vast, but the general census could be summed up with "What the hell is the military doing?" and "Is it really save to go out anymore?".

The three looked at the screen with a painful expression while Iwamoto sent his secretary a heavy nod, signaling her to keep going. She then proceeded to switch channels, showing them countless broadcasts of different news stations with all of them showing more or less the same things. Until Iwamoto eventually decided to end this presentation, probably not least because of the fact that he could not stand to watch any more of that himself. Once he told his secretary to stop with that serious voice of his, she immediately complied and put the remote away again.

"Do you know what that just now was?" He asked them eventually. However, they still chose to remain silent in shame instead. No one had the guts to actually speak up.

"That is what I call utter failure. The report states that there were 8 terrorists present. Leaving aside for now the matter of how they even managed to get past the barrier around loop seven unnoticed, do you mean to tell me three whole squads of trained soldiers as well as 4 helicopters armed with anti-infantry weaponry were no enough to subdue this bunch of puny brats? For now, I wish to hear what you have to say regarding your defense." His gaze shifted to the first soldier to the very left of him. Upon feeling the general's gaze on him, he immediately saluted and said:

"Sir! Our troops had reported that they actually were able to neutralize the thread and apprehend one terrorist alive, however…"

"However…?" Iwamoto's voice sounded harsh and slightly impatient. He made it clear that he wouldn't accept stupid excuses, which made the talking soldier feel even more nervous.

"…however…they simply seem to have vanished while no one was looking. Even the corpses of the dead terrorists simply disappeared…like ghosts, Sir."

"Ghosts!" Iwamoto suddenly yelled while hitting the table in front of him with his fist. His eyes radiated anger, making the soldier flinch. But instead of continuing his outburst, he shifted his gaze to the second one. "What about you?"

Now saluting as well, the second one replied: "It is actually not all that surprising, Sir. As you are well aware, the terrorists inside loop seven all wield unique and powerful void weaponry, every single one of them featuring a different effect. We have reports of small objects such as butter knives being powerful enough to cut through metal and objects in seemingly harmless shapes creating fire, electricity or other various things out of thin air. If things like these exist, it would not be all that unlikely for one to be able to create phantoms. One could only describe it as sorcery."

"Sorcery!" The general repeated the same action again and decided to eye the last of the three with the words: "So let me guess: You will tell me that the terrorists have access to a device capable of communication with space ships several light years away to produce lightsabers and laser pistols to fight against us? Perhaps once this is over they will ask a certain person to 'beam them up'?"

The last of the unlucky three avoided the sharp look of the middle aged man in front of him awkwardly and answered: "Well, actually…weapons featuring similar abilities to laser beams have already been sighted…"

"Don't screw with me!" Iwamoto suddenly roared at all three of them. Even the unrelated soldiers around them flinched from shock. "Ghosts? Sorcery? Science fiction? You dare come to me with this nonsense? So are you meaning to tell me that this is the extent of your abilities? That you, instead of analyzing the new threat carefully, chose to write it off as superstition? No wonder we are losing face in front of the people when the men in charge are nothing but imbeciles as well!"

"But sir, these mysterious objects are quite…"

"Silence!" He shut them up harshly. "Voids were unleashed through the past experiments of GHQ by developing that so called "void genome". I am aware that the records of its existence are rather insufficient due to the sudden downfall of the previous government, but still. It was researched and developed through science and it's not like it's a new technology from beyond our world. I wanted you to do your best to understand it and find a counter measure, yet all you do is disappoint me and the people putting their trust in us."

The dark haired one with glasses managed to gather his courage and said: "With all due respect, Sir. But how do you expect us to research voids when it is proven impossible to take them away from the people using them? With them simply returning to their original owners, it is impossible to receive samples to study without the void genome. Yet it is also impossible to create another void genome without the data on how to manufacture one. We know that it is based off of Kurosu Ouma's research on the apocalypse virus. And even though the results of that research weren't lost, the research of the void genome itself needed additional years to reach a state in which it was actually useable. Even if we started spending all our resources into another research project again, we would need many years to come even close to creating a prototype. Let alone one that works perfectly."

Iwamoto grumbled in disdain, but calmed down now that he finally heard some reasonable complaints. "Then what about the terrorists we captured alive during the loop seven invasions? Surely we should have gained something out of that at least?"

"Not much. The individuals captured appeared to be mere grunts, totally oblivious of their leader's true goal and with no real knowledge on how the things they are using actually work. Furthermore, they never refer to Ouma Shu as their leader, but keep mentioning some woman called 'Mana', who they refer to as queen. When we brought up Ouma's name, they either looked at us in contempt or asked us who that's supposed to be." Was the middle one's explanation.

"Mana? Who is that?"

The brown haired guy to the left could only shake his head. "I am afraid we don't know. All we got is the name. No surname. When asked of a description, we only received various contradicting pieces of information. Some say she is an elegant beauty, reigning over them as a just, true queen. Others say she is supposedly a bloodthirsty and mad tyrant, forcing them all into submission. Her appearance apparently ranges from tall, elegant and mysterious to small, mischievous and brutal. Likewise, the people captured either spoke of her in admiration or utter fear. Regardless of that, there seems to be a lot of respect for that person. From the vague details of her looks and characteristics we assume that most of the terrorists probably never met their "queen" in person and only know of her from rumors spread among them.

"That just sounds awfully suspicious. This could mean Ouma Shu is not the ringleader but just an underling of said Mana person. Or it is all just a mere scheme to make it look like he wasn't involved so we could actually agree to that truce offer we anonymously received a while ago." He spat the last part out with nothing but contempt. As if he would ever consider negotiating with terrorists. Especially if said terrorists were nothing but stupid brats themselves. Who did they think they were?

"There is more, sir. Even though we confirmed a while ago that every citizen inside the quarantine zone is infected with the apocalypse virus, these individuals were recently proven to be completely healthy. There is not a single strain of the virus to be found in their blood. Furthermore, when we tried injecting them with the virus, it was immediately destroyed by their body's anti-bodies. You could say they are completely immune to the virus."

That made Iwamoto raise his brows in surprise. "Immune? How could this be? Could this perhaps be used to create a cure for the virus?"

"We thought so as well, but so far, experiments prove to be unsuccessful. We assume it has to do with their strange DNA mutation, but we just can't figure out how they were able to attain such a big change in their DNA so fast and magnificently. It almost looks like the change wasn't made artificially but by nature itself with no traces of how it was achieved…but something like this would normally take an enormous amount of time. Our scientists couldn't help but refer to this change as a sudden evolution. They say it's as if they had skipped a few stages and went straight to the most desirable state in an instant. Even now, they still keep finding out new, unbelievable things about their bodies." The man with the eye patch then couldn't help but avert his gaze and mutter something in what sounded to be disapproval. "Though recently they appear to be a little too eager to conduct experiments. They have started doing things I think are highly questionable in regards of ethics to satisfy their thirst for knowledge…"

The dark haired man left of him didn't share his opinion. "Nonsense! These people are monsters and a danger to everyone around them. It is only natural of us to study them vigorously to find weaknesses we could exploit. Besides, they are terrorists in the first place, so they shouldn't have any rights to object."

The other two visibly grew angry with him. "Just listen to yourself! Have you seen what they recently started doing to them? It's nothing short of torture! Even though these people are terrorists, they are still people…to treat them like lab rats in such a way…it goes against all morals!"

"That's right. Among them appear to even be women and children. And while they get treated somewhat better than the men, it still is quite cruel. Recently I saw one getting his finger cut off just to see if they would grow back. Do we really need to go that far?"

The pro-human-experiments officer among them just calmly shook his head at his colleagues. "We do. If we allow ourselves to get soft here, we will all die in this closed off city. Do you intend to spend the rest of your lives trapped in here like hamsters? I don't. If experimenting on these people leads to answers on how to defeat them or even find a cure for good, then I will show my full support regarding that manner."

"Enough." Iwamoto eventually said, visibly annoyed by this conflict. "While I agree that research is vital to bring success, I will not allow any experiments to be done on children. Furthermore, before a drastic experiment is conducted on adults, they will from now on have to be approved first by at least two of you three. In extreme cases, I want to be informed of these experiment beforehand as well. Understood?"

"Yes!""Yes!"

"…Yes."

The first two replied immediately and enthusiastic, while the remaining one seemed to only agree reluctantly, yet he did so anyway.

"How are the preparations for our next operation in loop seven going along? Did we make some progress in that regard at least?" He then decided to change the subject.

The most serious looking one among them chose to reply: ""From our past two unsuccessful attempts to reach the enemy base we were able to conclude that close combat with the terrorists proved to be fatal, as they were able to take out even highly armored Endlave units with ease. Furthermore, airstrikes appear to be inefficient if not done by stealth jets, as they would otherwise get detected and thus shot down by powerful long range voids rather effortlessly. However, seeing as to how stealth jets are usually not armed with warheads capable of only affecting the area of loop seven, that option is out of the question unless we would want to take the risk of harming the rest of Tokyo's population."

It went without saying that everyone disapproved of this suggestion. Naturally, even the black haired lieutenant himself didn't seem as if he wanted to go that far, given the fact that he could end up getting hit as well. To take the whole quarantine area out as a whole would definitely have to remain an action that could only be used as a last resort.

"That said, if we had access to the leucocyte system, an accurately pinpointed orbital strike could easily be executed." He added. Iwamoto, however, could do only little but frown.

The leucocyte system. Three defensive satellites launched into the earth's orbit to have Japan locked on at all times. They were equipped with a very powerful laser cannon that could take out targets with pinpoint accuracy with only minimal divergences. They had been created by the U.N. to ensure GHQ's power over the country and, if needed, enforce their rule with extreme force. Over the course of time, one of the three satellites had been shot down by unknown individuals, assumedly terrorists, but the remaining two still remained operational.

After GHQ's fall, the access codes for the remaining leucocytes had solely been lying in the hands of the U.N. and Japan had started negotiations with them to acquire them as soon as they regained their independence. The U.N. had naturally refused to give away access to a system they had not only created but also launched into space with their own effort and money. The leucocyte system was solely their property. However, the fact remained that Japan had regained their independence and thus, being in possession of a weapon that could easily annihilate their whole country in the blink of an eye had naturally been a huge problem for the U.N.. From a diplomatic standpoint, it was as if the U.N. had stationed active nuclear missiles right inside Japan without the county's approval and having any power over them whatsoever. It was simply unacceptable.

Thus Japan's government had demanded that they would either get access to these satellites immediately in return of slowly paying them off over time, or that they would launch their own satellites into space in order to oppose the threat offered by the leucocytes. They would not accept a situation in which they constantly stood at the mercy of other nations.

A heavy debate had raged on for years between the U.N. and Japan but eventually, the U.N. had started to show signs of eventually giving in to them. After all, if the only options would have been for them to hand over the leucocytes or having new leucocytes launched into space and aimed at their own homes, the former was clearly the better option. Not least because the world had been afraid of another cold war like situation with every nation launching powerful weapons of mass destruction into the air and aiming them at each other. Furthermore, with their blunder regarding GHQ, which went rogue on them even thought it was their idea to form that organization in the first place, they had already lost a lot of support from the people and could not afford remaining stubborn regarding that matter. The threat of opposition even outside Japan was high.

As a result, the relationship between the U.N. and Japan had further deteriorated but in return, Japan had stood close to attaining access to the leucocyte system.

But then, out of nowhere, the apocalypse virus returned.

And with just that, all the tiresome negotiations Japan had held over the course of the last 5 years were as if they had been thrown out of the window. Suddenly, Japan's independence had become questionable again and all plans to hand over the leucocyte system had been indefinitely suspended immediately. Japan was told to deal with that threat first before talks could be resumed and while Japan had managed to ensure that no one would use the leucocytes against them for the time being, they would also not gain access to them either. A truly regrettable situation.

Meanwhile, several nations had already made their move to isolate Japan from the rest of the world. In the north, Russia formed a sea blockade at the sea border to Japan. To the west, China did the same. The west was locked down by U.S. and the south was held by several European forces. Any ship trying to leave Japan was forced to turn around and return to the harbor it came from and the same applied to aircrafts. The other countries made themselves clear that while they would not interfere with Japan's plans to counter its crisis, they would also not allow the problem to spread beyond its borders. Of course they also promised some support in form of goods and equipment. They even assured them that they would help with improving the vaccine so that it hopefully someday could actually become a real cure, but they were pretty adamant on one thing: What currently was in Japan, stayed in Japan. Until it is sure that the threat that was the apocalypse virus was dealt with. Once and for all.

"I have made inquiries about the use of the leucocyte system from the government and was told that we stand at no chance of hoping to actually finish the negotiations at this point. I am afraid the leucocytes are not an option." Iwamoto reluctantly explained.

"That is bad news indeed. If that's the case the current plan involves long-range warfare with the voids they are carrying as the main target. As research suggested, they are a weak point that, once exploited, could kill them instantly. Even more so since the majority of them are fragile and easy to break. Regrettably enough, though, while it would certainly kill hostile forces easily, it would not leave anything of them behind to study. Their bodies perish into countless shards of crystals, even though they are immune to the apocalypse virus." The dark haired one resumed his report, causing Iwamoto to frown.

"That's a considerable downside given the fact that we still need to learn a lot about the enemy. However, since we need to reach their base of operation and shut it down as soon as possible, I will approve of that plan. We need to bring in results, gentlemen. The well-being of Japan lies in our hands. Another failure like the enemy's infiltration of the Kuhouin headquarters will not be tolerated. We can't afford to lose the faith of the people, so show them that the military is capable of protecting them. Understood?" His stern eyes felt as if they pierced each one of them and caused them all to immediately salute nervously.

"Yes, Sir!"

"Good, then continue the preparation for our next operation. Dismissed."

The three lieutenants didn't need to be asked twice. As soon as they heard they were allowed to leave, they turned around and were on their way. Well, all but one at least. For Iwamoto held back the first one with brown hair and glasses with a frown.

"Wait a moment, Lieutenant Takarata."

The man in question flinched slightly and cursed mentally as he saw his two colleagues offering him a look of pity before leaving him all alone. He held back a sigh and turned around again to face the general.

"Sir?"

"I want to give you a different task. It still bothers me how the terrorists were able to breach the barrier to infiltrate the Kuhouin group without getting noticed at all. How do you suppose that happened?"

The man looked at the general somewhat confused. "Why are you asking me in particular, Sir?"

Iwamoto closed his eyes as if deep in thought. "It's something you said earlier. You said they were like ghosts with a serious expression as if you would actually believe that." He then opened his eyes and looked at the man directly again. "Do you?"

The lieutenant gulped and replied: "While I am aware that there are other possibilities to breach the barrier undetected such as infiltration cloaks and the help of spies, the reports about vanishing corpses do not add up with such theories. Even if the enemy used infiltration cloaks to become invisible, they couldn't do so while dead. And their death was confirmed by several soldiers. At least two of the terrorists had been shot right in the head. There was no way for them to fake it. Furthermore…" The soldier looked like he wanted to continue, but then hesitated. The older man in front of him narrowed his eyes on him.

"Continue."

The man gave him a visible troubled expression, but eventually complied.

"Furthermore, it would somehow explain something I had seen during the last operation in loop seven. I know it sounds…unbelievable, but…I saw someone among the terrorists who I think I know…"

Iwamoto raised a brow at him. "You identified another terrorist? Why did I not receive a report of it?"

"I didn't file one, Sir."

"And why is that…?" He wanted to know with some anger in his voice.

The brunette man hesitated for a bit, biting on his lower lip as if pondering whether telling him would really be a good idea. However, under imposing glare of the middle aged man in front of him, he soon realized he didn't have much of a choice.

"…because she is dead, sir."

"So she was killed during the operation?"

"No. I saw her leading a group of terrorists to engage our troops. After they overwhelmed us, I gave the order to retreat. When I last saw her, she cheered with the other terrorists before vanishing back into the center of loop seven. She was completely fine."

The harsh glare of the general was quick to change into a very confused one before returning to the previous state.

"…Lieuntenant Takarata, are you under the influence of some kind of medication?"

"I am not, Sir. I know what I saw. She looked a bit older than the last time I saw her, but it was undoubtedly her. When I questioned some of the terrorists we captured alive, they confirmed my claim by telling me she supposedly one of the higher ups in their organization."

"Who are we talking about here…?"

"Takarata Ritsu. My little sister who was confirmed to be dead. Several eye-witnesses said she succumbed to the apocalypse virus on the day the remaining citizens of Loop Seven attempted an escape and got ambushed by GHQ. Not a single trace was left of her." He explained with somewhat sad eyes.

"So the reports were wrong and she survived somehow while remaining undetected…" Iwamoto concluded while folding his arms confidently in front of his chest.

The younger man shook his head disapprovingly. "For five years? It would be possible, but there are other soldiers who believe they saw their dead acquaintances. Even the confined terrorists claim to have come back from the dead. At first we disregarded it as mere nonsense, but with more and more soldiers starting to recognize the dead amongst the ranks of the terrorists, I wonder if there could be some truth to that? I am sure if we allowed civilians to see the prisoners we took, some of them would also recognize them. If it turns out to be true, there could be no way for them to have all been hiding all this time. There wouldn't be a motive for them to do so."

"Going into hiding to form a new resistance group doesn't sound like a good motive to you?"

He shook his head. "It doesn't add up. Some people who supposedly have revived had been dead for fifteen years now, having died during the events of Lost Christmas. I can't come up with a single reason to fake your death and hide yourself for so long. Furthermore, it could not have possibly been a scheme of Ouma Shu as he was merely 7 years old at the time."

"So you believe that these people really have returned from the dead?" The general asked with a frown. "Are you sure it's not simply wishful thinking because you think you saw your dead sister on the battlefield?"

Iwamoto expected the man to apologize for voicing such a ridiculous theory, but got nothing but a confident look in return, which visibly surprised him.

"I do. As crazy as it may sound, I really think that, because of some strange reason which is still unknown to us at this point, the dead have come to walk this earth again. We just need to find out how and why."

"Huh…" A voice of slight astonishment left the lips of the older man. Eying his subordinate carefully while stroking his chin with his right hand, he eventually decided: "Very well. While I don't really believe in your theory, the fact that we need to solve this mystery one way or another still remains. So this is what we are going to do: First, question the prisoners if they have acquaintances living inside the quarantine area and if they do, inquire about their past in detail. Then try to locate said acquaintances and question them regarding the prisoners. If the stories match, allow them to meet each other to check if they would recognize the other party. That should help us determine if your theory is true or not. Afterwards we can still worry about the how and why."

Takarata seemed really eager to follow that order. Immediately re replied: "Yes, Sir!" with a salute. Iwamoto could easily tell how he actually couldn't wait to finally be dismissed to start right away. Chuckling slightly, he leaned forward on his table and added:

"Since you are already in such high spirits, I want you to also work on improving the barrier around Loop Seven and put additional troops on patrol around these areas." The general pointed on several locations on the map spread on the table in front of them. His subordinate looked at the locations and couldn't help but share a quizzed look with his superior.

"I can understand the area around the Kuhouin headquarters and mansion, but why the other two?"

"I figured since I allowed you to listen to your gut feeling, I supposed I could do the same with mine. The area around Yokohama is mostly filled with abandoned buildings from a time before Lost Christmas. Hardly anyone goes there, which would make a good hiding spot for terrorists. We already gave it a quick look once this whole thing started and couldn't find anything suspicious there. But since Ouma Shu was able to attack the Kuhouin group without breaching our barricade, I wonder if we haven't overlooked something and he is actually hiding somewhere outside of Loop Seven. I thought if I were to hide somewhere, I would either hide there or the old Apocalypse Virus research institute." The general explained his reasoning. Of course, these weren't the only locations which someone could hide in. But with Tokyo being a rather large city, they would probably be best advised to look at the more-likely places first, instead of looking at all of them at once. At least that's what he thought.

"I see. I will get to it, then." Takarata said with a nod, followed by receiving the permission to leave from Iwamoto. As soon as he had gotten it, he had left the room as fast as possible. Iwamoto thought he would have had to actually run to leave any faster. Sighing once as he watched him go, he turned around to his secretary who was still standing behind him quietly.

"By the way, have there been any demands regarding the capture of our soldiers by Ouma Shu? It's been more than a week already." He asked her.

"None so far, Sir." She replied with a somewhat saddened voice.

"I see…" He then mumbled absent mindedly as he returned to the paperwork he had temporarily set aside once the three lieutenants had showed up.

It certainly was strange to not have heard any demands by now, so it was probably safe to assume Ouma Shu was not interested in releasing them again. That could have had various reasons. For one, he could be aware of the fact that the military wouldn't negotiate with terrorists in any way, so he hadn't even attempted to do it. Or he could have only taken them because he had been interested by the cargo they had been transporting. It had been several weapons and even an Endlave, after all. If that had been the case, then the soldiers were probably long dead by now, which made him frown. Still, that was still a better outcome than them turning rogue. If they had been spies all along, he would feel troubled. After all, who could tell if they had been the only ones? Could there be more? If yes, that could explain how they had failed so horribly to make any significant progress so far.

He signed the last of the documents he had been worked on and handed them to his secretary who took them with a bow and went off somewhere with them. His eyes then fell on the picture of his adversary provided by the report lying on the table in front of him.

"Ouma Shu…what are you after…?" he caught himself grumbling to no one in particular as he eyed the picture of the brunette man with scorn. He hated the man he saw on this picture very much. He was a terrorist, a worthless pretender, a sham. Hero of Japan, they had called him. Savior of the world, even. Nothing but foolishness, Iwamoto thought.

Of course he had already met the man once. He had been there when the youth had been made to explain the situation in front of the people. They had even broadcasted him live on TV as if he was someone important, but the general had already known then that the lousy brat had been nothing but a kid pretending to be a savior. Back then, when he had heard the rumors that Japan had been saved by a brave man who had feared not even death, he had envisioned a strong, respectable man. But when he had seen how the savior had actually looked like for the first time…a mere brat who hadn't even finished high-school yet…it was needless to say he had felt ridiculed.

The teen had spoken to them with a tired, weak and monotone voice. His eyes had been empty and lifeless, and not just because he had been blind, no. He simply had lacked any charisma. His face had looked awfully pale with bags under his eyes and even when he had smiled, it had looked like nothing but lies. That was supposed to be Japan's hero? This miserable zombie? Had that been some kind of joke?

Where had the strength been one should look up to? And what about the charisma to make one want to follow him? Naturally, with his mere 17 years of age at that time, he also had lacked the wisdom that could have only come with time. Frankly speaking, Iwamoto had disapproved of Shu the moment he had seen him. And while everyone else around him had cheered for him, he had chosen to turn around and leave in disgust.

Therefore, it was to no surprise to him that things turned out to be the way they were now. Ouma Shu's betrayal and revival of the apocalypse virus…he had somehow expected it to become that way. After all, it had all sounded way too convenient that this foolish brat had been able to magically dispose of the virus as a whole all at once. The general did not know how he had done it at the time, or how he had made it return as suddenly as he had made it vanish, but he would make sure to find out and put that sham into prison where he belonged for the rest of his life.

One would say his judgment was pretty severe. To call the man guilty already without solid proof at all, but he did not need any more proof to know it had been Shu's doing. Who else could have done it? He was the only one with a void genome, he had been seen entering loop seven suspiciously right before the outbreak, and he clearly was one of the terrorists who had attempted the murder of Kuhouin Arisa. His motives for all of that remained a mystery, but not for much longer. Once he caught the man, he would receive his answers. And after that, he would make him pay…

Iwamoto's angry eyes fell on a small picture frame on the side of his desk. It featured a photograph of him happily standing with his wife and kid daughter. His sole remaining family after the events of Lost Christmas and what had followed it. They had been fortunate enough not to be in Tokyo when the current disaster had struck, so they were presently able to remain unaffected by this whole mess, but Iwamoto? He had been right in the center of it, due to business inside the city. And now he and everyone else in here were infected with the virus and thus unable to leave. And knowing how little hope there was with ever finding a real cure to this disease, he could pretty much kiss the opportunity to ever see them again good-bye. They would never allow him to leave the quarantine zone again. And naturally, he would not dare to pull his family down with him by bringing them in here. He would sooner kill himself than depriving his own daughter of a happy future she could have outside this cursed capital city. No, where she currently was with her mother, the world was still free of the virus…it was best that they both remained there, far away from Tokyo. He had long since made peace with the thought that they had been separated for good…

But that didn't mean he wasn't angry about it. Like any loving father out there, he had wished to be by his kid's side, watch her grow up and aid her with her problems. Naturally, he also wished to be with his wife, who he still loved as much as he had the day he had met her. A woman, who had stuck with him even though he had been a busy man who only managed to fulfill her wish of having a child so late in their married life.

It had only been a short while since their separation, but he missed them already. Thinking about the possibility of never seeing them again further fueled the anger and hatred he felt for the man who called himself Ouma Shu. He had brought the virus back. He had trapped him inside this hellhole of a city. If he had to be honest, this whole fight against him wasn't really about his love for Japan anymore. He wanted revenge for taking away his family.

Voice mail? Video conferences? Don't kid around! These things wouldn't replace the feeling of getting embraced by the ones you love. To feel the warmth of their skin. It was simply unforgiveable.

And that's why he would not rest before he would find and capture the man. And if needed, he would also kill him. Not only would he do the world a favor for eradicating a worthless fake-hero, but also would he satisfy his thirst for revenge.

He turned around and looked outside the windows of the tower. Down there, he could see the airport and his troops busying around, but his determined eyes looked further ahead, right into the city, where somewhere in the middle of all these buildings, Ouma Shu lied in wait for him. But it didn't matter. He did not fear that brat. He would find him, and he would crush him. That he was sure of.


	10. Rebellion

**10\. Rebellion**

While the general was busy shrouding himself in these strong feelings of hatred, similar feelings were also radiating inside the former Tennozu high school, though for a slightly different person. Said person was a king as well, though he preferred to go by the title of envoy, and age-wise, he also appeared to match Shu. But aside from that, everything else about his personality could not have been more of the opposite.

To eliminate that man, a certain pink haired queen who also bore the title of Eve, her (soon-to-be) king, as well as one future duke and duchess were presently standing in front of a room which would lead them to a certain garden if entered. The expression of their queen appeared to be especially sour as she closed the door behind her and joined them.

"So, I assume preparations are already finished if you dare to disturb us so soon?" She wanted to know with narrowed eyes.

The two future nobles bowed down in front of her while the dark haired one chose to reply:

"I am terribly sorry to disturb you, my queen, but it's already the time we had previously agreed upon. Our forces are ready and await your command."

Gai couldn't help but smile at Mana. "Arima is right, you know? It's not his and Ryouko's fault time flew by so fast for us."

His queen returned the smile, though slightly more playful. "Well, I hope you make the most of this short break, because I am expecting the fun to continue afterwards."

The blond man looked like he was about to continue that flirty conversation when the brunette woman among them decided to interrupt them:

"While your confidence is reassuring, I would kindly ask of you to not take this matter too lightly, your highness. The envoy is a serious threat to the establishment of your kingdom and his downfall will require all of our combined might." She said with respect but also worry in her voice. Something that made Mana chuckle in response.

"Oh, I know. But look around you…" She gestured towards the walls around them, all of which had been reinforced by purplish crystals. "This is my domain. Anyone foolish enough to fight me here will find nothing but death. If needed to, I will simply make the whole building collapse on him and crush him under tons of stone, metal and crystals. I will make him regret the day he chose to defy me and my chosen king. Isn't that right, Triton?" She asked him with a mischievous grin.

"Absolutely." He told her with a determined nod. "But before we do that…isn't someone missing?" His question was directed at his two former Undertakers in front of him. That's right, shouldn't there be three of them? Where was the blond guy he had also talked with this morning?

The two shared a worried look, but then the dark haired man answered:

"Sasaki contacted us a short while ago via crystals. Said he ran into a bit of trouble gathering his troops, but would definitely be there in time for the battle. I am not quite sure what to make of that message, if I am honest. Maybe it would be wise to delay the operation?" He voiced his concerns while stroking his bearded chin thoughtfully. His words were met with Mana's heavy disapproval, though.

"Delay? No way. We have already come this far and no offense, but it doesn't matter if the last guy comes in time or not. I am more than sufficient enough to take down Yuu and everything he chooses to throw at me." She objected. For some reason, she couldn't wait to go all out on Yuu, despite having been quite docile during her battles in the past. Gai wondered if her sudden increase in power thanks to him may have been the cause for that.

The brunette woman agreed with her queen. "I think so, too. Besides, if we delay this operation any further, it will increase the risk of Nanba finding out. If he sees through us and decides to aid Yuu like Gai suspects, then it will only become harder for us to win."

Upon hearing Nanba's name, the dark haired man with the scar couldn't help but frown. Looking at the blond man in front of him, he asked: "That's true, but I still have a bad feeling about this. What do you think, Gai?"

Said man had his eyes closed and appeared to weigh out both options. Wait, or commence with the rebellion? According to his subordinates, the troops would still be ready in time, but what if they wouldn't? What if they were late or even turned against them? He kind of doubted the latter, since he trusted the man he had given the task of gathering the forces, but still…the possibility existed.

Then again, did it really matter? Even if they would lose his support, it would still only mean they would lose a third of their combat force. There were still two of the three divisions who would definitely fight alongside them. Furthermore, these troops were meant as mere backup for Mana anyway. He knew of Mana's might, since he had witnessed it many times already in the void realm. Sure, she hadn't fought directly often, but he had seen Inori at work more often than not. When those two had fought that one time before Shu had interrupted, it had been obvious that their power rivaled each other. And ever since that day she had chosen him as Adam, her power seemed to have received a sudden boost as well.

The plan foresaw that they would even dispose of Yuu before he even had the chance to defend himself, meaning that if nothing went wrong, Gai would take his power of kings right at the beginning of the rebellion. If that happened, nothing could possibly even think about stopping them. Who in their right mind would even attempt to fight two powerhouses like Mana and him at that point? And even if the plan somehow failed and they couldn't take the power of kings right away, Mana still held the upper hand with the location of this battlefield. Yuu shouldn't stand a chance.

In that regard, Mana was right. A delay would not be necessary and only increase the risk of detection. The troops were already mobilized and demobilizing without anyone noticing it would be impossible. It was only a matter of time before someone would get curious about what that would have been all about and start investigating. The plan could get uncovered and losing the element of surprise would be a heavy blow in terms of their chances of success. If they wanted to overthrow Yuu, now was their chance. He opened his eyes confidently.

"There is no change of plans. We will resume the operation as planned." Taking a quick glance at his love, he asked: "Are you ready for this, Mana?"

Said girl only responded with a malicious grin. "I was born ready."

Nodding contentedly, he turned towards the other two. "Tell the troops to ready themselves. The fight starts as soon as they see the guards dying by Mana's hand."

The two immediately took out a small crystal out of their pockets and held it with serious expressions. They were probably relaying the orders Gai had just given them to their soldiers mentally. As they were doing that, they also started to make their way to the former student council office, where Yuu was forming his plans most of the time. As a matter of fact, they had already confirmed that he was in there, so there was no way they could accidentally screw this up somehow.

As they entered a long hallway that would lead them to their destination, they saw a lot of Da'ath members and Mananites who had been recruited into Da'ath patrolling the building. It didn't matter to them, though. Everyone who would stand in their way would soon be dead anyway.

At first, the soldiers made room for Eve and her followers, who led the group, but the closer she actually came to the student council office, the more wary the guards eventually became. She may have been Eve, but that didn't mean she could just walk around everywhere without a reason. For that reason, she was eventually stopped by two older men in white bulletproof wests and heavy weaponry. They didn't approach them in a hostile manner, but Gai could almost imagine the suspicious look behind their mirrored glasses.

"Milady, can we help you with something?" They asked Mana directly.

"I seek an audience with Yuu, so I am going to meet him." She simply told them.

"There is no need for you to go through the trouble of visiting him. We will let him know you wanted to speak to him. He will come see you as soon as his schedule allows him to."

"Well, I am already halfway there, so I might as well finish what I have started."

"But the envoy is busy right now. He will not have the time to speak with you."

"Then he will bloody well MAKE time for me. Who the hell do you think I am? Do I need to remind you who will reign over the world soon?" The anger in her voice was clearly audible.

"Of course not, Milady. Excuse our bluntness, but the fact remains that you can't see the envoy right now, so I have to kindly ask of you to…"

"Nope!" She forcefully stomped the floor and in the very next moment, the ground under both guards rose up with an enormous speed. Before they could even react, they were sandwiched by the rough ground below and the hard crystal ceiling above them, effectively crushing them like pitiful insects. The unnerving sound of Bones being crushed could be heard. These guys must have died immediately.

While the other guards around them were still looking at Mana and her followers in confusion, the queen merely stretched out her right hand towards the blood-soaked pillar in front of her and held back her middle finger with her thumb, followed by flicking the monument as if it was no big deal. Contrary to what you would normally expect to happen, the crystal structure immediately shattered and its small, fist-sized debris accelerated into the direction she had flicked them to as if such a simple action had caused a small explosion.

The guards close to her were taken out immediately, either because of the debris piercing their head, or simply because the force of the impact blew them away and made them hit something else unfavorably. The bulletproof wests may not have been pierced, but the sheer blunt force trauma had been enough to either knock them out or kill them anyway.

"E-Eve has lost it! Quick! Call for help!" Gai and the others could hear the words of one guard further away, who had seemed to finally realize what was going on, but before he and his colleagues could run away or aim their weapons at them, Mana simply touched the ground and smirked.

"No matter where you run to, I can see you." Was what she said, and following that statement, crystal spikes started to abruptly grow out of the crystals adorning the walls. With perfect precision, they all impaled their targets gruesomely at the same time. And not only those in front of them. In the whole building, cries of dying people could be heard. No matter where they were, as long as they were near a crystal, Mana could track them down and kill them. They had practically lost the moment they had set their foot onto her turf. Against the sharp, pointy-end crystals, not even their wests were of any use.

"A-amazing…" Ryouko said with baffled eyes as she looked around her to find not a single foe had survived. "In just an instant…"

"I am happy I chose the right side to fight for…" grumbled the bearded man next to her. They both had drawn their voids during this encounter, expecting to use them, yet the battle had already ceased before they had even taken their stances. The man's void was a long harpoon with a beautiful, crimson-glowing gem embedded into its pike, while the woman had two twin glaives, one for each hand. Their blades were curved and had a green sheen to them.

While they were looking at Mana's work in astonishment, more battle cries could be heard coming from outside. A look out of the windows allowed them to see dozens of Mananites storming the school, completely overwhelming the first row of defenses Da'ath had prepared. However, it was only a matter of time before the Da'ath forces would eventually recover from their state of confusion and fight back. There was no going back now. The battle had begun.

"Let's go, everyone. The sooner we deal with Yuu, the better for us." Gai eventually told them and urged them to press on. Naturally, he had also already drawn his void. He was about to move on, when he noticed Mana still crouching on the floor, hand shaking.

"What's wrong, Mana? Are you okay?" He asked worriedly as he put his right hand on her left shoulder and knelt next to her.

However, Mana only shook her head to ease his worries. "I'm alright. It's just the excitement."

That, in return, made Gai smile in relief. "I understand. Just make sure to not get too excited in the upcoming battle. We can't afford to give the enemy any openings, alright?"

She nodded confidently. "Sure, leave it to me."

With that, the blond man stood up and offered her his right hand to pull her up with him. Once done, he turned to the other two and urged them to follow him to the former student council office.

While the three of them moved forward, Mana couldn't help but stay behind and look at her still shaking hand with a frown. Using her other hand to make the shaking stop, she eventually bit down on her lower lip and followed them.

When they soon after reached the door behind which that dreadful envoy must have been, they realized that the noises of battle were only now starting to reach this part of the school. Gai silently motioned for the spearman to come with him and cover the door from the left side, while making a gesture that the women were to take the right side. Then they waited. It wasn't until the Mananites had stormed the school building and filled it with their battle cries, that the doors to the office finally opened and a certain young and blond envoy stepped out of it.

"What's all this turmoil about? Can't a man have some peace and quiet for a ch-." That was the moment he was faced with the pointy end of a harpoon as well as the blade of one of the brunette woman's glaives. As the weapons were held dangerously near to his neck, the envoy froze immediately, only to feel a painful sensation from his back. Gai had not hesitated to shoot his void rifle at him, causing a big void bow to erupt out of the smaller man's chest. While he was forced to his knees out of pain and sudden fatigue, his void fell forward and met the floor in front of him with a loud clank. He saw it slide a bit further, where it was greeted by the tip of a certain queen's long sword. Identical to Inori's singer sword it was, however…seeing as to how it wasn't really the same void, this variant was probably better off called the dancer's sword to avoid confusion.

Thinking about it, it was indeed quite weird for her and Inori to have identical voids. Shouldn't at least one of them have developed a different one the moment they ceased to be the same being? Or perhaps it had to do with their strange Eve powers that their voids had turned out to be the same? Maybe both girls would have had different voids originally, but got them changed by the mysterious power that made them Eve? If that was so, wouldn't it have been more fitting to call the weapons "Eve's judgment" or something like that…? Well, it didn't really matter right now.

Mana held her weapon dangerously close to the envoy's void, making clear that she could destroy it anytime she wanted. As the envoy noticed that, he could do little but close his eyes and offer them an impressed smirk.

"I see, so that's what this is about." He stood up slowly and turned around towards Gai, careful not to make any sudden moves that would cause his captors to 'accidentally' kill him. "You came to claim your crown as Eve's chosen Adam."

Gai raised a brow at that, still pointing his rifle at the envoy.

"So you knew that I managed to gain Eve's favor?"

The smaller man smirked and held up his left hand. "The very moment it had happened. You see, I hold one of Ouma Shu's crowns. And right as the one in my left hand stopped being a true Adam crown, I noticed that someone else must have become Adam. Now, knowing Eve to be a very picky person, it was easy to deduce that it would be you. There aren't many other people close to her she appears to be very fond of." He explained logically.

"Then I don't understand why you would not want to give me one of the crowns so I could bring the new world you so much desire to see." Gai replied with narrowed eyes, filled with suspicion. It didn't make any sense. He had talked a lot with that envoy before and had thus long since established what his reason for bringing the apocalypse was. Their motives and goals should not conflict one another, so why was it that the envoy had not immediately tried to give him a crown? Wasn't it the only thing left separating them from reforming the world?

But Yuu only offered him a pained expression. "Indeed, that would have been most favorable, but, you see. Giving you either one of my crowns would not work." He activated the void genome in his left hand and pointed at the symbol that appeared on the back of his hand with his free right hand.

"This is the crown I took from Ouma Shu. It had once been a normal crown, associated with no one in particular, but he had taken it with him to the void realm and evolved. The moment he had done that, the void genome became one with his DNA and thus became an 'Ouma Shu' crown. This allowed me to enter the void realm in his name the moment I took it from him, because back then, he had been Adam." He then activated the void genome in his right hand and pointed at it with his left hand.

"That's when I evolved and made the original crown I owned a 'Yuu' crown. However, the already changed 'Shu' crown, did not change into a 'Yuu' crown. Do you understand why that is a problem, Tsutsugami Gai?" He asked him with a shrug and a small smirk.

The two soldiers who held him at their mercy looked at each other confusedly, but the frown that appeared on Gai's face showed everyone present that the blond man, in fact, did understand what the envoy was trying to say.

"So you mean to tell me those crowns have become useless, since they can't become Adam crowns anymore."

Yuu nodded in a pleased manner once he realized Gai had caught on. "Yes. Unless either Ouma Shu or I become Adam, these crowns would never open the way to the void realm again, which is a crucial step in bringing the apocalypse.

"That ain't happening." Mana merely declared viciously. "I won't go back to being a miserable queen who gets denied by her Adam continuously. Either Triton becomes my king, or no one does."

Yuu couldn't help but chuckle at that. "And that's exactly the problem. With every void genome currently in existence being useless, you would need a new one. And that just won't happen." He told them with a shrug.

"And why not?" Gai wanted to know. "I have heard Arisa suggesting to create a new one from scratch many times. With her funds and your knowledge, it should be possible."

"Indeed, it would be possible. But it's not only time-consuming, it would also be a pain to smuggle it into our current location, seeing as to how we can't possibly create it here. We simply lack the equipment and would have to create it somewhere outside of Tokyo, wasting enormous amounts of resources and money, then find a way to deliver it here without the SDF or Ouma Shu's forces intervening. In the end, following this plan would take too long, so Da'ath disapproved of it."

"Then screw your stupid money and resources. I can create a guilty crown myself." Mana stated , unimpressed.

Everyone looked at her surprised, apart from Yuu who only smirked as if he had just heard something entertaining.

Gai was the first to voice his astonishment. "What are you saying, Mana? Creating a void genome is quite complex. Not even I could figure out how to reproduce it after I found out about its existence." Which was why he had been forced to steal it all those years ago in the first place.

"That's why I said I would create a guilty crown, not a void genome, silly. Bestowing a guilty crown to her Adam is Eve's job after all." She narrowed her eyes in displeasure and uttered a small, snarky sound as she averted her gaze. "Though I would have greatly preferred taking the envoy's one as it would have been so much easier."

While Gai continued to look at his love in something that looked like a mixture of amazement and confusion, Yuu decided to speak up again, with closed eyes and still a smirk on his lips, trying to give off the impression of being superior. The image stood in a stark contrast to his actual position right now…with the two soldiers still holding him hostage, as well as Mana still triumphing over his void.

"Why are you acting so surprised, Tsutsugami Gai? What Eve says is certainly true. Did it never strike you as odd that a natural phenomenon such as evolution was in strict need of something which could only be created through science? After all, the apocalypse can't happen with Eve alone. She needs an Adam who wields the power of kings. But what if humankind would have never developed the void genome? Would evolution have failed then? Naturally not. The discovery of how to create the void genome was taken off the apocalypse virus which Eve governs. The void genome thus is nothing else but an artificially created product of what would have naturally been created by her." He explained in an amused sounding tone.

The ex-leader of the Undertakers gazed at both Mana and Yuu in what looked to be amazement, yet the signs of confusion never left his face. True, what the man had said appeared to be logical but that didn't mean it made sense completely. However, when he saw Mana nod at his words after slight hesitation, he involuntarily chose to accept the just provide information.

"But then I don't understand. If you could have created a new crown all along, why haven't you done so in the void realm? Why continue the pointless battle against Inori for all these years when you could have simply used it to leave?" He figured that there must have been a catch somewhere. From Mana's reaction earlier, he could tell that creating a new crown was probably not very easy, pleasant or otherwise a bother. Still, what could have been so bad as to prefer being stuck in a world of endless war?

Mana, however, remained silent and averted her gaze in shame as she bit her lower lip. While this confused her future king even more, Yuu decided to chuckle and explain again:

"That's probably because she couldn't." He told him with a shrug. "The reason Adam is required for Eve to bring the apocalypse is not just because he is needed to protect and fight for her, as well as opening and closing the gate to the void. It's far more important than that. He is the source of her power."

That was the moment he glared angrily at the envoy. "Now you are blatantly lying! Do you think me a fool? Mana was able to use her powers even without Shu for years." There was also Inori, who wasn't even Eve and thus couldn't have an Adam in the first place. However, she, too, had been able to utilize her powers without problems. The envoy's words didn't add up.

"Ah, yes. She could. But that's just the basic ability. Tell me, Gai. In all those years in that void realm, has Mana ever shown you enough power to make you believe she could take on the world? To bring the apocalypse solely by herself?" Once he saw the man's frown, he smirked confidently. "That's what I thought. That's because Adam acts as an amplifier to Eve's powers. Depending on the distance as well as the relationship between Adam and Eve, the amount by which Adam enhances Eve's powers changes."

"So in other words if Adam is far away, Eve would not get affected by him?"

"Exactly, but that's still leaving out the relationship aspect. You see, it matters greatly what Adam thinks of Eve to either boost or actually weaken her power. That's a mechanic to ensure Eve won't simply choose anyone for Adam, but someone who actually cares about her. So if Adam were to only accept Eve with the ulterior intention of simply becoming king, Eve would not gain enough of a power boost to bring the apocalypse worldwide and thus fail her objective. Even worse, if Adam actually hated Eve and merely pretended to accept her, his feelings of hatred would reach and weaken her so much that she wouldn't even be able to dream about bringing the apocalypse. Are you following me?" He asked Gai confidently, probably enjoying showing off his knowledge in front of the ignorant wanna-be-king.

Said man's eyes widened as he realized something. "In other words, if Adam were to love Eve, he would make her even more powerful than she normally is. Powerful enough to bring the apocalypse…"

The ex-king remembered the time he had just been accepted as Adam by Mana. How easily she had laid waste to the garden around them after getting just a little angry. So it really had been because of him and his feelings for her? He couldn't deny that said event could be seen as solid proof to that theory, especially since he had already thought something like that must have been the cause of Mana's increase of strength.

In that sense, it also explained why Mana had been so terribly weak ever since they had left the void realm. Shu, her former Adam, had made it no secret of how little he thought of her during their last battle, after all. He had even gone as far as to declare he didn't think of her as a sister anymore. According to Yuu's theory, that would mean Mana would get weakened by her brother's negative emotions directed towards her. And that is what had actually happened. The weakness and Mana's untypical behavior during the last two weeks…it all made sense now.

The envoy's expression turned into a mischievous grin in response to his realization. "Exactly. And the more he loves her, the more powerful she becomes in return."

However, the envoy's grin did not impress him in the least. He didn't understand how he could grin at him like that in the first place. In the contrary, shouldn't Gai be the one to smirk right at Yuu? With his feelings for Mana being the fuel that would make her unstoppable, shouldn't Yuu be more afraid for his life right now? He did not understand that cursed envoy in front of him. What kind of game was he playing?

"If that's the case, then we have already won. Unlike Shu, my feelings for Mana are actually strong and true. And since we have already learned that your crowns are useless to me, we will simply have to get rid of you and make a new one. We will allow you to tell us your last words now."

That was the moment the silent halls of the school were suddenly filled with the echo of loud, confident laughter emitted by no one else but the smaller blond man himself.

"Last words he says…" Yuu said between chuckles, wiping away a tear from his eyes which had emerged due to all the laughing. Turning towards the bearded man who still held his spear near his throat, he said: "It appears your former king has quite the potential to become the next king's court jester, no?"

"And why would that be…?" The brunette woman with the glaives asked in disapproval over the envoys disrespect towards Gai.

"Why? Elementary, my fair lady…" She heard the envoy say as he, much to her surprise, started to dissolve into small silver threads only to appear right next to Mana, putting an arm around her shoulders casually. "It's because he thinks he could pick a fight with Da'ath and win." His smirk grew even wider once he saw their shock about his sudden move.

"Mana, what are you doing? Crush his void now!" Gai told her, his panic clearly visible. If the envoy got back his void now, he would be hard to defeat. Furthermore, he was dangerously close to her, which is why he couldn't understand why she didn't react to it at all.

"I bet she would love to follow that advice of yours, but you see…your queen appears to have lost the ability to move a couple of minutes ago." As if to proof his point, he gave her shoulder a strong shove and, indeed, Mana fell to the ground like a cut down tree. She hadn't even attempted to catch her balance.

The three people in front of him simply stared at their fallen queen in shock and worry. What was the meaning of this? Gai was quick to get a hold of himself and ran up to her. As he was kneeling next to her to find out what ailed her, he realized how red her face had become already. Touching her forehead, it became evident that she had developed a strong fever. He tried talking to her, but even though her eyes were open and slowly looking up to him, she did not answer, nor move. You didn't have to be a doctor to see how panicked she was from the look in her eyes. She appeared to be in quite some pain as well.

"What's the meaning of this…? She was fine just a moment ago…" He tried to understand this sudden change while the envoy simply went up to the void lying before him and picking it up effortlessly. When the two ex-Undertakers tried to stop him, he merely teleported out of the way again and appeared levitating behind them in a leaned back sitting position, legs crossed and his head resting on his right hand.

"It's funny that we would both coincidentally choose the same day to betray each other, isn't it Tsutsugami Gai? Your plan was not bad, I have to give you credit for that, but still…it wasn't good enough."

"This is your doing, then?" He turned around to the cursed envoy angrily. "What have you done to Mana? Speak!"

Said man smirked in response as he folded his arms in front of his chest confidentially. "Say, 'Adam'…do you remember what you had for breakfast today?" He had sounded awfully disrespectful when he had called Gai Adam, making it all too obvious that he didn't approve of him attaining that title.

The blond man sent him an angry glare, not because of the envoy's tone, but because he realized what his words implied. "You put something in our food…?"

Yuu held back his laughter as he noticed the three people in front of him eyeing each other worriedly while subconsciously bringing their hands towards their stomachs.

"Relax. I only put it into Eve's food. Since Eve is resistant to most illnesses and poisons by nature, even more so than normal evolved individuals, I had to take a rather rare and extremely potent one. If I had used the same poison on you, it would have kicked in sooner and thus could have alerted Eve, allowing her to seek a cure from either an antidote or a void capable of curing poisons. I couldn't have risked that now, could I?"

"You coward!" Gai grumbled at him, suddenly quite furious as he held his paralyzed queen in his arms. "Choosing the weapon of the weak as your weapon. Do you have no shame?"

But Yuu could only shrug and shake his head amusedly, not in the least affected by those words.

"Why should I possibly choose to fight Eve, further empowered by her Adam, head on? It would only mean casualties on both sides if I had chosen that way. With this, Eve gets removed from the equation right from the start, eliminating the highest threat immediately." He told him with a sigh before continuing.

"Besides, you make it sound as if it was easy. I had to find the right dosage without being able to test it out first. If I had taken too much, she would have been able to notice something was wrong soon enough to alarm everyone around her and if I had taken too little, it would have had no effect at all. Leaving that aside, you would also have to take into account how resistant Eve's body is to poison. Her body would normally detect and remove the poison before it would come into effect, so I had also had to find a way to make sure it got distributed in her blood fast enough for it to kick in before getting neutralized." A mischievous smirk then appeared on his lips before uttering his next words.

"Say, did you enjoy my little parting gift I put into Eve's food in addition to the poison?"

"Parting gi-…?" Gai furrowed his brows in both, annoyance and confusion, followed by thinking about the things the envoy had just said. If he had needed to make the poison spread in Mana's body to make it affect her in time before it would be neutralized, that likely meant he had somehow affected the speed of her blood circulation, but how the heck did he…

His eyes widened in sudden realization. "You can't mean…"

The envoy gave him a hearty laugh. "Don't look so surprised, Tsutsugami Gai. Da'ath is a proud and honorable organization. Even if we decide to cut ties with our associates, we would never do so without giving them at least some compensation. And seeing as to how I could hit two birds with one stone, I naturally chose to mix some aphrodisiac along with the poison so that you two could enjoy yourselves one last time before I would have to forcefully remove you." He told him with a nonchalant shrug. A gesture so smug that it could only cause the ex-leader of the Undertakers to grit his teeth at him in anger.

" _This blasted envoy!"_ Gai cursed mentally once he realized he and Mana had been had all along. Of course he would have never even thought of Da'ath trying to poison Mana, whom they normally idolize to such an extent that it wouldn't be weird to think of them as worshipping her as some kind of goddess. It had simply been unthinkable. Furthermore, he had also been aware of Mana's increased resistance to poison due to some bad experiences during their time together in the void realm, so he had completely dismissed the sheer possibility of them even attempting such foolishness. Who would have thought that there still existed poisons capable enough to harm her if spread inside her body quickly enough? And to use such an underhanded way of making her do it, too.

For that cunning bastard to come up with quite the right method and timing to make him drop his guard regarding such matters…could you blame him for falling into this trap? With Mana's possessive and dominating demeanor it had been completely in-character for her to ask for sex when she had done it. Heck, since he knew Mana so well, he had already expected for the request to come in sometime this day due to the simple fact of her being so bad with showing restraint or patience. If Mana wanted something, she would get it. And she would get it immediately. That's how she had always been and how she would always be.

In that regard, putting her under the influence of some aphrodisiac was the only right move. If Yuu had made her exercise in a different way to spread the poison quickly, Gai would have only grown suspicious because Mana was a young woman who rarely felt the need to move a lot. Since she valued elegance and beauty, you would never see her run around needlessly and even if she fought, unless she were to go all-out on someone, all you would see her do was lift a hand or two to summon crystal death upon her enemies. Inori was the only foe she would fight in such a way and said girl had naturally been no way near loop seven at the moment.

Besides, Gai wasn't sure if he would have even been able to refuse Mana after all these years of longing for her, even if he HAD known of the poison in the first place. Yuu must have been well aware of that, too.

While he kept staring at the cursed man in front of him in utter hatred, the battle cries of soldiers charging down the hallway could be heard behind him. This then brought the evil smirk on his face back again. Finally. The reinforcements were here. With them, they could still beat the envoy who was standing against them on his own right now.

"At last, Sasaki's men have finally arrived." He sighed in relief as the image of the blond haired man he had talked to this morning flashed before his inner eyes.

"It's about damn time that slacker showed up…" The dark haired spearman in front of him grumbled in annoyance as he looked into the direction from which he could hear the approaching troops.

"Even if Mana is immobilized, if we can defeat Yuu with raw force alone, we can still claim this fortress for ourselves." The brunette woman added determinedly as she readied her glaives to strike down Yuu.

But the envoy merely smirked while not even bothering to assume a battle position. Putting his arms behinds his head, he simply continued to levitate in the air in his typical lying position. The sheer nerve of this guy, they all thought.

However, once the supposed reinforcements reached them, Gai and the rest came to the unfavorable conclusion that they weren't reinforcements at all…as was evidently shown by them drawing their weapons and surrounding him and his rebellious bunch with hostile looks in their eyes. Something was horribly wrong here.

"These aren't Sasaki's men…" The future duchess muttered as she eyed the newcomers suspiciously.

Gai frowned at that remark. They weren't allies, that much was obvious, but they were Mananites all the same. For there to be so many and for them all to move so coordinated, they would have to belong to one of the gangs led by a general.

Currently, Gai was aware of the existence of seven main gangs which existed among the Mananites.

The shadow blades, a stealthy bunch led by Nanba. The crimson scythe, a group of fast moving melee-oriented soldiers led by Miyabi. Electro-cute, a squad filled with people wielding voids capable of having elemental properties such as electricity or fire which is led by Ritsu. A slow team of strongly armored fighters with heavy hitting weapons called Fatal Tusk was led by Sudou. The remaining three gangs were Redemption, Judgment and Retribution whose leaders were his three ex-Undertaker friends, Ryouko, Arima and Sasaki.

Judgment and Redemption were currently fighting outside the school to fight their way in. Sasaki's guys from Retribution were still missing, so either these guys were part of a gang Gai didn't know yet, or…

That was the moment Miyabi came forth from behind her soldiers with her void scythe in hand, eying them with a cold and serious expression. Gai's frown deepened. As he had thought. The crimson scythes, one of Nanba's allied forces.

"Damnit, so they found out after all. Just where the hell is Sasaki?" Arima cursed angrily. His leader had a bad feeling regarding the missing man's whereabouts.

"You mean this loser?" A new voice could suddenly be heard. Turning into the direction of its source, their gazes fell upon the entrance to the former student council office. Out came no one else but Nanba himself. Clad in clothes full of half dried blood stains which made him look like a butcher he came forth carrying a man over his shoulder as if it was nothing at all. He then proceeded to lift him up as if he were a mere trash bag and threw him before the group's feet where the body remained lying motionlessly.

It was a man about Gai's age. Blond hair which had turned slightly dark because of the blood it had been smeared with and a dice-shaped earring on his right earlobe could easily be spotted. Things started to become harder after that. The face had been beaten up so badly one would wonder if even his mother would still recognize him at this point. One of his eyes was open wide, still frozen in the expression of shock and pain while the other one was straight-out missing. In its stead, from the empty socket, a stream of now half-dried blood traveled down his heavily beaten face, mirroring the stream of dried tears coming from the other one. Some of it went over his strangely crooked nose, which obviously must have been broken. The area around the mouth was just a bloody mess, probably from continuously spitting out blood and his throat below featured a deep cut which must have been the source of death.

Judging from the amount and severity of his other wounds, the man must probably have felt thankful for that by the time he had received it, as sad as it sounded. Yet, despite all these horrible deformations, he could still somehow be identified by the Ex-Undertakers as their missing friend Sasaki.

"Sasaki…mother of god…" The black haired man among them mumbled with wide open eyes filled with shock. The brunette woman next to him hid her disgust over such a sight behind her left hand with which she covered up the lower half of her face.

"But…I just talked to him over a crystal connection before we came here. He sounded totally fine." She told them unbelievingly.

Gai could only shake his head with a sad expression as he pointed towards the dead man's hands on which one could easily see marks of them having once been bound to something. Aside from that, each and every single one of his finger nails were missing, leaving out no doubt that he had been tortured mercilessly by his captors. They probably had started to become creative after they had run out of fingernails to pull, which also explained the various other injuries evident on the poor lad's body.

"They probably forced him to say that before finally killing him. That would also explain why we never saw his troops joining the fight to begin with."

"That's about right." Nanba confirmed while readjusting his obsolete glasses. "You should have seen this fool, crying on and on for me to stop. It was almost funny how quickly his tough act had changed into the pathetic display it eventually became."

"For you to do such a thing…are you even still human…?" The future duke grumbled at him angrily and the woman next to him continued from there by adding:

"What do you think you are doing, mobilizing your forces against your queen and the future king, scum?"

All to which Nanba merely shrugged with disinterest.

"Oh, please. Can you really blame me for looking out for myself? Gai and I haven't gotten along ever since we met and that obviously won't change anytime soon. So why the hell should I aid him with that, when all I will likely get in return is death? Of course I would oppose you. Especially now that our dear queen's ship is about to sink as well. You will never see my working for a lost cause, as you all should have been well aware by now, after all these years we have known each other."

Gai didn't need to hear any more to get the gist of what must have happened. Because of Nanba's worries of him becoming king which could have easily become the end of the brunette man due to their bad relationship, he had kept a close eye on Gai's movements to find an opening he could exploit. Naturally, one of his spies must have seen the queen and her desired king meeting the three gang leaders this morning and informed his boss. Said boss then probably hadn't hesitated to get a hold of one of these three gang leaders, which ended up to be the very unfortunate Sasaki. Beating all the secrets regarding their planned rebellion out of him, he then chose to share this newly attained information with their enemy, Yuu, making his enemy's enemy his friend. That all ultimately had let them to the point they found themselves at right here and now. Unfortunately for Nanba, though, Gai realized the flaw in his plan. With a scowl he addressed the brunette man angrily.

"Haven't thought this through now, have you Nanba? Even if you betray us here and kill Mana, she will simply come back due to being Eve. And who do you think she will seek revenge on the moment she does?"

Contrary to his expectations, he only saw an evil smirk appear on Nanba's lips. With a knowing look, he turned towards the envoy, who was still levitating wordlessly near them.

"You haven't told them yet?"

Mimicking his smirk, he merely shook his head.

"The timing didn't seem right just yet."

"Tell us what?" Gai then decided to butt in into their conversation. Nanba's center of attention shifted back towards the rebel leader.

"The queen's reign is about to end. For good this time."

Chuckling amusedly, Gai chose to meet that statement with a short laugh. "Ridiculous. Eve's curse is absolute. It cannot be lifted until her role has been fulfilled."

"That's true. Until the apocalypse is brought upon us for good, Eve will never be allowed to die." Yuu decided to confirm the blond man's claim. While Gai sent a triumphant smirk Nanba's way, he couldn't help but look at the envoy in shock once he heard him add: "However, that doesn't mean it necessarily has to be Mana."

"What…?"

"Unlike the void genome, the queen variant of the guilty crown is special. It is the unique entity that gives its possessors the Eve power and chooses its vessel itself. Once chosen, it will stick to that choice until the body grows too old to perform its duty of bringing the apocalypse. Naturally, that means the identity of Eve cannot be changed easily. Even if you succeed in separating the queen's crown from its chosen body, it would only return to said body immediately and if the body had been killed in the meantime, it would simply revive it again."

The envoy took a deep breath and sighed as if tired of explaining this complicated stuff again. He probably had just told the very same thing to Nanba only hours prior. Even so, he continued his explanation seriously nonetheless.

"Therefore, it would be true to claim that the identity of Eve cannot be changed at all, as it solely depends on the queen's crown's choice alone. Under normal circumstances, that is. Our present situation, however, differs greatly from the norm, since not only is there Mana Ouma who is suitable to bear the title of Eve, Inori Yuzuriha shares the very same trait."

This somehow made Mana's eyes widen, despite her body's paralysis. Noticing that, Gai chose to hold her closer to himself protectively.

"What foolishness are you spouting? Mana has been chosen to be Eve. There is no way you will be able to transfer her title over to Inori." He argued confidently, but Yuu simply chuckled at that.

"My, you seem to have quite the misconception of what the queen's crown really is. By no means can it be called an actual life form, let alone being intelligent. Rather than that it could be described as some kind of shapeless being which holds all the knowledge needed to be Eve. Moving entirely by something similar to instinct, it will first choose a body that should become its vessel. Once that happened, it will enter that body and start mutating it ever so slightly, allowing it to become Eve, as well as slowly transferring the knowledge of how to control the power into the person's mind. Afterwards, it will remember that it already made a choice and will not look for a new vessel until the old one becomes unusable due to age. However, since it isn't able to form thoughts, it will always seek to return to its vessel by determining if the body had received the Eve mutation or not. While that simple instinct appears to be sufficient under normal circumstances, do you see how it became a slight flaw in our current situation?"

The blond haired rebel couldn't believe what he had just heard. So in other words, the entity that gave Eve her title, the queen's crown, would choose a person it deemed suitable to become queen and would then slightly alter their body to make it live up to the name. Thus the person would become Eve. However, the entity that made said person Eve was also solely instinct-driven and therefore stupid. If separated from the changed body, the only way for it to find its way back is to look for a body that shows the distinct mutation only caused by the entity itself. Regarding that matter, it was basically just behaving like a mindless computer, having just two states to determine a certain situation.

1 = power flows. 0 = power doesn't flow. In the crown's case it would be: 1 = Eve's mutation is present therefore meaning "This is my vessel!" or 0 = Eve's mutation is not present which would mean "I have to continue looking for my vessel…"

What ridiculous simplicity, Gai thought. What was nature thinking, coming up with such a sloppy system? If it had wanted to make sure Eve's identity cannot be changed by a third party, shouldn't it have come with more safety nets?

But then he immediately stopped that unreasonable thought. No, it was not the system's fault. Multiple Eves weren't meant to exist in the first place. Inori's existence itself was irregular. No one could have expected her to become a second Eve. And since normally there would only be one, such a simple safety mechanism would actually have more than sufficed, considering how hard it was to actually separate Eve and her crown from each other in the first place. It was even complex enough to wonder if the system had really come into existence naturally, or if it had rather been created by a godly being…? That would also explain why the titles of the king and queen were biblical names such as Adam and Eve…but who could really know…

The feeling of something poking his chest threw him out of his train of thoughts as he looked down to check what the weird sensation was about. When he saw a small crystal branch growing out of Mana's hand, he immediately understood what this was about. Smart girl. Paralyzed she may have been, but she could still form crystals with her mind. Touching the crystal, he immediately heard her voice reaching his mind.

" _Triton…the hell is going on? I can't move and I feel like I am burning up. My vision is kind of blurry, too, but I think I still heard that cursed envoy say something ridiculous just now…"_

" _Don't worry, I won't let this happen. I will sooner die than let them do that to you."_

" _Idiot! Who said you were allowed to die? Run away!"_ He could hear her worried voice yell in his head.

His queen had a point. As he slowly looked around them, he quickly realized that they stood only little chance of attaining victory. The battle outside could still be raging on, but if he wouldn't be able to secure a void genome here, he could not help their troops with taking the fortress. With Mana out of the picture, there was just no way they could still win. Gritting his teeth in frustration he had to admit that the rebellion had failed.

Once the envoy saw that expression, he stopped floating in midair and came back on the ground, burying his hands deep into the pockets of his coat as he grinned smugly.

"It appears you have accepted defeat now at last, Tsutsugami Gai. If you hand over Eve now, I will promise to spare the lives of your friends and yourself. What do you say?"

He saw the blond man drop his void and it silently vanished back into his chest. Seeing that, his two subordinates did the same. Now even Nanba couldn't help but smirk in a pleased way. With this, he had won. Gai would not become king and he who had secured a position as Yuu's ally would always stand at a higher position than Gai from now on. It was only a matter of time now, before he would eventually get his revenge on the failed Adam candidate.

But that was when he realized something weird. While usually the walls would have crystals adorning them as some kind of fortification, the floor would seldom be touched by them as it would make walking on them quite awkward. Yet, for some reason a thin layer of transparent crystals had spawned around the area where Mana had lied in Gai's hands. It was barely visible unless you so happen to stand at exactly the right angle to see the light reflect on it, so no one besides him seemed to have noticed it so far. There hadn't really been a reason to pay attention to Mana in the first place, since she had been hopelessly restrained due to paralysis. But apparently, she had used all this time to let a crystal path spawn from her left hand that still touched the ground. He followed the trail of crystals with his eyes and saw it connect with the crystals reinforcing the wall. He immediately knew what this was about.

Yet, before he could warn the surrounding Mananites, all they could see was Gai and Mana vanishing into a flash of light as he had touched the crystal below him. His two subordinates had followed him not soon after in quite the same fashion. Four small lights traveled quickly along the crystal path until they reached the wall-crystals from where they accelerated even further into the direction of the hallway they had originally come from.

"What…when did they…?" He could see Miyabi look at the direction they vanished into with wide eyes, before her face transformed into a face of pure anger, probably directed at no one else but herself for not having realized the enemy's plan in time.

"What are you standing around here for? After them! Don't let them escape!" She ordered the Mananites around her, who quickly followed her command. One after another, they stormed forward to touch the nearest crystal to give chase. And while they all vanished into small lights to pursue their enemy, Nanba could be seen frowning. It looked like his victory over Gai was not yet in his reach after all.

Next to him, Yuu sighed as he scratched the back of his head as if to say "What a bother…"

"I am sorry, Nanba." Miyabi then approached them with a troubled expression. Looking down in shame, she added: "It was my fault. I should have paid more attention to our surroundings."

Nanba, however, only shook his head at her. "No, it's fine. We shouldn't have talked so much in the first place…" Once he had said that, he threw an accusing look at the envoy, who only offered him a carefree shrug.

"Where is the fun in just killing them without letting them know how exactly they have failed? It's as if you were eating the dessert before the main dish. Where is the point in that?"

Nanba furrowed his brows at the envoys strange logic but decided to leave it at that. Instead, he turned back towards Miyabi and told her:

"Miyabi, stay here and help Sudou and Ritsu with clearing out that rebel scum. Afterwards, follow us together. In the meantime, we will give chase to Mana." He decided and waited for Miyabi to confirm the orders with a firm nod before watching her run to one of the crystals surrounding them to vanish into it. Unlike her own soldiers, her little light traveled down a different road. Presumably the shortest route to where the battle with the remaining rebels was still going on.

While Nanba had said that, the envoy had simply put his right hand towards his chest to unleash his big void bow once again. Taking it with a firm grip, he then gave the brunette man with glasses next to him a knowing smirk.

"Now then, shall we let the hunt begin?"

Readjusting his glasses confidently, he answered with a strong nod. He couldn't help but start thinking this could become a lot of fun. And with that thought, he followed after Yuu, a bloodthirsty grin on his lips.

Soon he would get his revenge.


	11. Convergence

**11\. Convergence**

Gai, carrying Mana in his arms, as well as the two future nobles reemerged from a small crystal branch directly outside loop seven in a small alleyway between two buildings. If they had left the alleyway and went down the street to the northeast, they would directly run into the military barrier guarding the border to the Mananite infested zone. One would ask themselves how they had gotten here, when the answer to that was quite simple.

From in front of the former student council office where their rebellion had failed so miserably, they had directly returned to the entrance of the garden Mana had been so fond of. Getting there had been easy, given how the whole school building had previously been remodeled by Mana with crystals one way or another. Using this, they had been able to speed-travel back to that location by simply going through the crystal fortifications present on the walls.

However, the garden itself had remained untouched by her due to sentimental reasons, so they had had to stop in front of it, which hadn't been a huge issue. Simply running into the garden, they barraged the door behind them and ran down to the lower levels where Mana had declared Gai to be her new Adam the night before. In the middle of the garden was a round platform. On it, a small crystal tree had been seen standing. That new addition to the garden had been created by Mana during the night she and Gai had formed the plan to overthrow Yuu.

To the eye of an unknowing person, it had simply looked like a crystal tree. Naturally without leaves, but still somewhat beautiful with shiny and elegant branches going into every direction as if the lifeless material really had grown there for years. While the average person would simply deem it a nice and artful decoration, its true value had been hidden underground in its roots. Unseen, countless of them traveled down the earth below them in every possible direction at what seemed to be completely random patterns. Even if one knew of them, he would not immediately realize which of the different roots went into which direction. That's how confusingly they grew through the ground.

Some of these roots, however, reached the old canalization underground of the school. And from there on out, they spread into all the possible directions they could go. One of these roots had been the one they had used. It had went right to the southwest until it had reached a part that had been intentionally destroyed by GHQ 5 years ago to prevent people from escaping using the underground tunnels. To make sure no one would secretly dig through there, they had even set up automatic spring guns which would shoot at everything moving in front of them.

But since that had been a long time ago, they had of course long since ceased to function due to lack of maintenance, so these things naturally hadn't been a problem anymore. Digging through the destroyed section relentlessly, the root had eventually found a way through the debris and made it to the other side. It had continued its way for a little while until it found a sinkhole leading to the very same alleyway the four of them stood at right at this very moment. And that's how they had gotten there.

It had been quite fortunate that Gai had thought about a backup escape plan in case things would actually go south for them. He had assumed they wouldn't need it, but figured it was never wrong to be on the safe side. It was moments like these that he actually felt really thankful of his carefulness all the time.

Creating that escape route hadn't even been much of a problem for Mana, who had felt so full of energy that night, that she actually went overboard with the amount of roots she had created. Originally, Gai had only asked her to make that one root, never expecting her to have gotten powerful enough to actually create the dozens she had eventually ended up forming. Though he was thankful for that as well, since it would aid them with confusing the enemy, who would certainly not find the right root to follow them through immediately.

The blond man knelt down towards the end of the root they had used and lifted one of Mana's hands up so she could touch it. Once her hand met the root, with one simple mental order of its queen, it immediately shattered, now completely taking away even the slightest possibility that Miyabi's idiotic thugs would follow them. For the time being, that was.

Well, they had gotten this far at least, but the main question remained. How were they to proceed from here? They had tried rebelling against Da'ath and failed, so they obviously couldn't return. Half of the Mananite forces were also still siding with Da'ath since Mana herself hadn't quite been the queen of the year. When given the opportunity to go against her, many wouldn't hesitate to do so. The only ones who wouldn't were either the extremely loyal ones or the ones who would fear her wrath.

But that half was now either in the middle of a battle they couldn't win at Tennozu or hiding somewhere in loop seven to avoid getting caught up in the trouble of their higher-ups. They could probably still find some allies if they looked hard enough, but the problem was that they simply couldn't afford to roam around loop seven right now. Too high had the risk become to run into rogue Mananites.

That was, of course, only as long as Mana was still paralyzed. As soon as the effects would wear off, they could always try again. However, who knew how long it would take for the effects to weaken? Or whether they would weaken in the first place? For all they knew, it could kill her in the end. And if that happened, they would have completely lost since she would revive back in the void realm. Its gate still lied at Tennozu, which was still controlled by Da'ath. All they had to do was enter the void and get her again…and since they apparently tried to replace Mana with Inori right now, that certainly was something Gai would only let happen over his cold, dead body. Damn those lunatics!

But wait…, he suddenly thought as realization stuck him. It would be unlikely for them to use a poison that could kill Mana, because all current keys to the void realm had become useless. If she were to die and revive in the void realm, no one would be able to get her out of it. Unless there was another rule regarding the void realm if no Adam was present who could free Eve. There most likely was, Gai thought, given how complex this whole Adam and Eve thing eventually had turned out to be. As he thought, he was better off not risking it. He better made sure to find a cure for his queen. However, first things first. They needed a hideout to get out of the line of fire for now.

But where did that leave them, then? Loop seven as a whole had become a no-go and Gai wasn't exactly popular with the Japanese citizens right now. As a matter of fact, the whole world would not react kindly upon seeing his face again, so he was probably better off not showing it too much in the first place. They would certainly not want to help someone who had wanted to end the world 5 years ago and still planned to do it even now.

That drastically reduced their options. Should they try hiding at Arisa's? But Arisa was a Da'ath member as well. They would look at her place at the first opportunity they would get, with Arisa not even getting a vote on refusing. No, Arisa was out of the question as well.

So, what? Was he supposed to disguise as a hobo and live on the streets? No, they would freeze to death. Winter was harsh and Mana was weak. They needed someplace warm.

He grimaced visibly as a really bad thought resurfaced again and again, no matter how often he pushed it away.

That was, the old Undertaker hideout he had created in Yokohama…it had existed for reasons such as this, but he just knew it was a bad idea to go there to begin with. He had had no opportunity to confirm this, but he would bet his own void on the fact that Shu was probably using it right now as his own hideout. Why he knew? Because Shu had been an Undertaker before. And like him, he had been in the same situation. He, too, had had nowhere else to go after being branded a terrorist.

Maybe he would understand, since they were now in the same boat? Gai shook his head forcefully because of this foolish thought. No way in hell would that happen. Shu had grown a lot during the 5 years he hadn't seen him. He wasn't foolish enough anymore to put trust into Gai again. The blond man wouldn't, either.

But wait, that didn't mean Shu was completely unreasonable…if Gai could find something to offer him, maybe they could form a truce? The former Funeral Parlor leader would have to lie if he claimed he wouldn't actually like for them all to get along again like they had before. He just wasn't naïve enough to believe it could happen. But what if it actually could? All Shu appeared to want was to live peacefully with Inori. The apocalypse wouldn't necessarily stop them from being together, now that they had evolved and had become immune. The sole reason they would probably still object was actually…

He looked down at Mana with a troubled expression. That was right. It's her. Mana and Inori were getting along about as much as cats and dogs did. Their relationship had been irreversibly destroyed. No, it was probably more accurate to say that there never had been something to get destroyed in the first place. Those girls were on bad terms with each other right from the start and would naturally never allow the other to be the true queen because they would fear for their own lives if that happened. It was the same bullshit like with him and Nanba. That glasses-wearing bastard had gone out of his way to side with Yuu just to prevent him from becoming king. All out of fear Gai would kill him the moment he would get hold of a crown.

Well, hatred probably played a not-so-insignificant role in all this, too. He couldn't deny that.

A frown appeared on his face. He and Shu could probably find a way to somehow or another reconcile with each other, but what were they to do about the girls? Shu valued Inori at least as much as he did Mana, so they would never come to an understanding as long as these two would not get along.

Things had changed, though, he suddenly realized. The main reason why both of them had fought each other had been Shu. Mana had wanted him to be her Adam while Inori had naturally objected the idea since neither her nor Shu himself had wanted that to happen. But Shu wasn't Adam anymore, Gai was. Technically, Mana would not have a reason to hate Inori anymore for hogging Shu all to herself. And since Mana didn't need to pester Shu anymore, either, Inori could possibly be fine with her now, given how she wasn't exactly the unforgiving type.

But if that wasn't the case, he would lead them right into a hornet's nest. Urgh, this was getting him nowhere. He needed some insight from his companions.

"What is it you guys think we should do right now?" He asked them calmly.

"Our men are still fighting the battle over there. We should try to gather Sasaki's men in loop seven and bring them in as reinforcements before they all die for nothing!" Arima said with a growl. He apparently hated the sole idea of running away with his tail between his legs while his men were dying like rats over there.

Gai, however, could only shake his head. That was not an option. Going back there would defeat the purpose of having run away in the first place. Not to mention that by the time they would actually rally Sasaki's troops, the other two divisions would have been long dead already. All they would manage to achieve would be to send the next batch of men and women right into the slaughterhouse. No, they had to give up on Judgment and Redemption. Both gangs were lost for good.

"Do you think that as well?" Gai asked the brunette woman next, who could only shake her head disapprovingly.

"No, our troops are lost no matter how you look at it. We need to make sure their sacrifice would not be in vain by protecting the queen long enough for her to recover. The war can always continue as long as Mana remains alive."

Gai nodded at that. This woman was far more reasonable. The man next to her, however, couldn't hold back his anger at her words anymore.

"Quick to abandon them, I see. Even though it was you who insisted on going into battle earlier, instead of postponing it like I had suggested. Now look where that got us." He accused her of being at fault to which she reacted with similar hostility.

"No one could have expected this outcome, so please do us all a favor and keep your damn testosterone in check, you crazed monkey."

"Oh yeah? Come here and say that again. Woman or not, I am going to rip you a new one, you damn bitch!" Gai saw him drawing his void on her and the woman responded by drawing her own one. However, before the fight could escalate, Gai simply went in between them with a stern expression.

"Enough of this nonsense! It was my call to go into battle, so it's my responsibility. If you want to fight someone, fight me." He told the man angrily, before turning to the woman. "However, instead of fighting each other, shouldn't we rather think about what to do from now on? We are all that's left of our rebellion, so is it really wise to bicker among ourselves like children? Get a hold of yourself."

The two former Undertakers lowered their gazes and stepped away from each other, signaling Gai that they had calmed down a bit. However, judging by their still furious expressions, they were at no position to form rational thought right now, which made him sigh in frustration.

He then decided to ask his queen by touching the crystal she still held in her left hand.

" _How are you holding up, Mana?"_

" _I…think I am getting better because I am close to you, Triton, but I can't think straight right now. My thoughts keep wandering off every now and then…I even only registered half of the things the envoy said earlier…"_ He could hear her somewhat pained voice directly in his mind. _"I am sorry, Triton. I told you to rely on me, but…"_

" _There is nothing to apologize for. It's not your fault. We should have both known facing Yuu would be harder than that. Furthermore, if I had been a proper king for you, we could have been done with this back when it was still only called the fourth apocalypse rather than the fifth."_

" _It doesn't matter. What matters is that you got out alive, so once I get better, we will definitely get our revenge."_

Gai couldn't help but furrow his brows at that. While he certainly was happy to hear how much she valued his life, it also made him wonder if she was even aware of the fact that even though her immortality due to Eve's curse would prevent her death to be final, it would still send her right back into the void realm where he currently had no way of getting her out of again. In the best case, Da'ath wouldn't be able to do that either, in the worst, they would and then they could do whatever they wanted with her. But perhaps Mana didn't even care about that…?

" _I am currently more concerned about your life than mine, though."_ He answered her.

" _Don't worry, it will be fine. Poison can't kill me. We have been through that already."_ She was probably speaking about their void realm experiences right now. She had also mentioned that she felt as if she was slowly getting better if she remained near Gai, so perhaps the worst was already behind them?

Gai shook his head in worry. They had gotten into this mess _because_ they had taken things too lightly before. He would risk such things no more.

" _Perhaps it would still be wise to search for an antidote to be sure."_ He thus suggested.

" _Were do you think we would find one?"_ She asked him tiredly and in wonder.

She had a point, he thought. The envoy had said he had used a rather rare and potent poison, and given Mana's high resistance to such harmful substances, he had probably not been lying. If that was true, the chances of acquiring an antidote to such a specific and powerful poison by searching a hospital or pharmacy were rather slim. In the end, it came down to the power of voids, which, again, only left two options. Either going back into loop seven or…

" _I was considering seeking out Shu's assistance…"_ He eventually told her, still with a worried frown. He still wasn't convinced whether this would be a good move for them or not. But he couldn't come up with a better one right now.

"… _Shu, huh…"_ Mana's thoughts in his head started to sound somewhat foggy, was she losing focus again? _"Would he even help us?"_

" _I am not sure myself. We could run into trouble by going to him. In the best case he could offer us protection and help with curing you, but in the worst case…"_

" _Then…don't…..go…."_ He looked down at her in worry when he realized how her thoughts became quiet.

" _Mana? Mana, can you hear me?"_ She had closed her eyes, about the only thing she could move in her present condition, and her breath had become calmer. The blond man was relieved to see her merely having fallen asleep, yet couldn't help but also realize how hot she had become and how much she had started to sweat. He wondered if those were signs of her body fighting her ailment or rather it succumbing to it. He was nowhere close to being a doctor, so he couldn't tell at all if the symptoms were really improving or if she had simply said that to ease his worries. He bit his lower lip, visibly troubled.

Mana was sick and needed a warm place to rest as well as some kind of treatment. However, there was no going back and no staying here in the cold where they would all freeze to death, either. She had said not to go, but heck, going to Shu was at least as risky as trying to wait it out somewhere. If Yuu were to find them, they would not stand a chance against him and at least Shu could be tried to reason with, unlike the envoy who was always dead set on his plans. If he had to pick his poison, he would rather take his chances with Shu, he decided determinedly.

"Do you guys still know where the backup hideout was?" He eventually asked his two companions who had remained silent and vigilant of their surroundings all this time.

"The one in Yokohama? Yeah, but Gai…" The man tried to warn him, but got interrupted halfway through.

"I know. It will most likely not be vacant. Shu will probably be there. However, we have nowhere else to go if we want to survive."

"Survive…" the brunette muttered worriedly. "That sounds questionable if you consider the possibility of the false queen being there as well."

"Inori is not as unreasonable as you make her sound to be. The whole war between her and Mana had been started because of Mana and me in the first place, not her. I know for a fact that she hates war and I am sure she will at least hear us out before deciding whether to help us or not."

The two future nobles frowned and looked at each other before turning their attention back to Gai.

"Chances of success…?" They wanted to know.

"About 50/50. This could go either way…"

"Alternatives…?"

"None." He told them with a slow shake of his head. "Loop seven is too risky and the rest of Tokyo would rather see me dead. I considered splitting up and letting you two take Mana somewhere without me, but that's risky as well. Mana gets strength off of my presence. She might become too weak to survive the effects of the poison if I left her temporarily."

"True." Arima seemed to agree as he observed Mana in Gai's arms. "She doesn't look all that good already, even in your presence. She might actually become worse if you two were to separate."

"So, you are saying that if we would like to have a warm place to stay we would be best advised to go and meet the enemy?"Ryouko then said with narrowed eyes, obviously disliking the idea.

"It's a bad plan with a lot of risks, but it's all we got now that we failed with the rebellion…" Gai admitted. "It's either going there and hoping for the best or waiting here, awaiting death. I doubt we could hide long enough for Mana to recover without help. We have no supplies and if either the military or Yuu finds us, we are as good as dead."

Silence followed afterwards as the three stared at each other, deep in thought. The brown haired woman was the first break it again, however.

"I am out, Gai." She said, earning a shocked expression from the dark haired man next to her. Gai did not react at all, except for closing his eyes slowly, as if he had already expected such an answer.

"You are a good man and I respect you a lot, but this fight is lost and I will not run into death meaninglessly. Going to Yokohama is suicide and staying with you will only yield me death as well. We have been through a lot together during the last few years, be it the Undertakers or the void realm, but even though I grew quite fond of you, I will not die for you just like that. This is where our ways part, I am afraid." She declared with a small and respectful bow.

"What are you saying at a time like this…?" The loyal spearman asked her in anger and disbelief. He looked as if he was about to attack her for treachery.

"This is the only right time for it." She calmly answered him. "With Mana in her current state, this is actually the only chance to leave without getting slaughtered by her for abandoning her. I intend to make the most of it and put as much distance between her and me as I can."

"You think I would let you?" He growled at her and raised his spear against her, which she countered with her glaives.

"I will not let anyone stop me. Not you, nor Gai. I intend to leave this place alive even if I have to step over your corpses. Although I would rather avoid doing that." She threw a glance at Gai as if to say: "Don't force me to do this." To which he only answered with a sigh.

"I understand, Ryouko. I never intended to force you to follow me in the first place. If you want to leave, please do. Actually, I want Arima to follow you as well."

"What?" Said man looked at him, completely dumbfounded. Did he just mishear? "I strongly object! Such cowardice is…"

"It's not cowardice, it's being reasonable." Gai interrupted him calmly. "Honestly speaking, your presence would not make a difference anyway. If Shu and Inori decide to kill us, you will not be able to protect us on your own and will meaninglessly die alongside us instead. That would serve no purpose other than wasting another life. Too many people have meaninglessly died that way already. So instead, I want you to go and live. If I succeed in convincing them to help me and Mana becoming the true king and queen, I will come and seek you out again to make you nobles as promised. If not, you can still continue living like before. There is no need for me to drag you down with me as well." He told them with a faint smile.

"Gai…" They whispered in astonishment. The woman had expected to receive the traitor treatment and the man had already made peace with dying today, but here they were, standing in front of their leader who just told them to go and make sure they make it out alive. He was willing to bear the burden all on his own, like a true king. It moved them deeply.

"I…I understand." Arima eventually said as he put the spear down. He looked a bit overwhelmed, which wasn't all that surprising. Ever since the failure of the rebellion, he had expected to die any minute now. And he had readily awaited death to join his men who he had left behind to die at Tennozu. He thought it was justice for him to lose his life soon afterwards. A price to pay for their mistake.

Yet here he was, being told that he should go and save his life. Part of him still wanted to object, but another part of him wanted to heed Gai's suggestion. It made sense and now that he thought about it, simply dying for no reason other than to satisfy his feelings of guilt was pretty cowardly in itself. Rather than dying to escape his guilt, should he not rather go one and live with it? Wouldn't that be more of a sign of strength than running headfirst into oblivion? No, Gai was right, it's always better to live to fight another day rather than dying for nothing at all.

"Then, I guess this is goodbye." He went over to the blond man and put a hand on his shoulder. "Take care, Gai. Don't die."

"We will try." The man replied with a small nod.

"You are way too kind, Gai." Ryouko eventually said as she, too, found his way over to him. "I was ready to kill you all if I had to…and still you said you would keep your promise. What kind of idiot are you?" She jokingly asked him as she hit his other shoulder playfully.

"Is it truly idiocy to value the few friends you still have in the world?"

"How unfair, acting so cool now. You will make me feel bad for actually leaving you."

"Surely not as much as I would if I were to get you two killed together with me." He told her truthfully. He actually felt bad enough already that he took Mana with him into the lion's den, but he really didn't have another choice now, did he?

She then caught him by surprise by drawing closer and giving him a small peck on his cheek.

"A good luck charm from me to you. You will need it."

"Thanks." He gave her an understanding smile as he saw her blushing slightly and looking away. If it's so embarrassing, she shouldn't have done it in the first place, is what he thought, yet still found it amusing. Good thing Mana was not conscious right now, though. She might have gotten mad.

With that she grabbed Arima, who was still looking at her as if he was about to say "You can't do stuff like that to a king!" and dragged him with her as they went further inside the alleyway, probably to keep a low profile. He saw them turn around a couple of times as if they were still pondering if they should stay after all, eventually, though, they vanished from his sight.

Gai continued to watch them leave until he couldn't see them anymore, then he sighed, looking down at Mana who was still lying in his arms.

"Now then, shall we go, Mana?"

Naturally, he didn't receive a reply from her, so he took off into the opposite direction where he could reach the street that would lead him directly to his new destination.

He just hoped he was doing the right thing…

-GC-

Back in the Undertaker hideout's meeting room, Inori, Yahiro and Tsugumi were minding their own business. Yahiro was staring onto a couple of documents regarding the voids of the Genesis to figure out the best formation for their impending attack on loop seven while Tsugumi was typing away on her small portable computer, documenting the info Souta had sent them only a couple hours ago. As she had thought, it had mostly just been stuff they had already known such as Da'ath being an ancient secret organization and that they had currently set up a base at Tennozu High. Some trivia was also mixed into the report, but in the end, it was still useless information.

That much had to be expected, though. Souta had not known anything regarding Da'ath prior to today in the first place, so it wasn't all that surprising for his reports to start right from the very beginning. They had to give it a bit more time. To be honest, they hadn't even expected him to answer as soon as only half a day after his recruitment to begin with. Besides, amongst all the useless data he provided, there was one tiny speck of information which actually turned out to be quite valuable.

That was the effect of the small rosebud shaped crystal they had taken from Arisa. The very same crystal Inori was currently sitting in front of and staring into with utmost concentration. She appeared to merely look at it, but the closer you paid attention to her, the more it actually seemed as if her gaze went far beyond that. It was almost as if her eyes were analyzing the small object on a molecular level, even though everyone present knew that such a thing was simply impossible. No one had eyes sharp enough to see things that small, not even the queen of Genesis, but perhaps, instead of molecules, she was able to see something else in that crystal no one else beside her could?

Taking glances at her from time to time, Tsugumi, probably in an attempt to break the silence around them, chose to ask:

"How is it going, Inoreen? Anything new?"

Without looking up to her, as if not to lose her focus on the crystal, she answered: "What Souta said is true. It appears to really do guarantee evolution in case of death. At least I cannot see anything that would say otherwise, but the way it was made is so…complex. I cannot believe Mana was able to create something this difficult. I cannot understand it at all." She finally broke away from that object and sighed whilst shaking her head. The look of deep concentration had vanished from her eyes in favor of her usual calm- and gentleness. At least for a second before she decided to rub them in a tired fashion. Tsugumi figured she must have felt like someone who had stared into a computer screen for a longer period of time.

"That hard, huh?" Yahiro mumbled with a frown after he had overheard their conversation. "So I guess it won't be that easy to mass-produce…"

The pink haired queen shook her head slowly, much to his disdain. A crystal that could assure absolute survivability upon dying to the apocalypse virus could have been just the thing they had needed. Since Inori could create crystals, if she were to produce them en masse, no one would really need to fear the apocalypse at all anymore. They could spread them among the regular Undertakers, ensuring everyone's survival, even if they failed to prevent the end of the world this time. That could probably also help with easing the growing tension between Genesis and their non-evolved counterparts.

"It's not like this crystal was as easy to read as 'Once the possessor of this object dies during evolution, revive him.'" Inori explained. "Rather than that, it is a huge accumulation of orders embedded into it which would exclude all possibilities of the possessor dying. I don't really know how to explain it…" She admitted. The way this crystal worked wasn't magic or something like that at all. It all followed a certain logic, the problem was that the logic behind it was beyond her. It was like the time she tried looking into Funell's code while Tsugumi had worked on it. She knew that the programming language followed a certain logic as well, but simply couldn't understand it. With time, she would certainly be able to learn, but it would definitely need a lot more than one day for her to really master it. And to reach the level of skill involved in creating another of these so called blessings? She wondered if it wouldn't take her months.

"Sounds like programming, alright." Tsugumi said with a grin. "I would kill for the opportunity to work with that crystal, but unlike you, I can't see anything at all when I touch that darn thing."

"I don't think anyone but me and Mana can actually read crystals. Genesis can use them, but I don't think they can really see the logic behind them." Inori stated her thoughts.

"Well, that sounds like the majority of computer users. Only a small fraction of them can actually read code and understand how the programs they use work, while the rest just uses the software without a second thought." Tsugumi said with a shrug.

"Only that every user could theoretically learn programming if they wanted. Crystal creation, however, cannot be learned." Yahiro chose to add. "Which means Inori has no choice but to figure it out all by herself."

"Sucks for you, Inoreen. I know you are not really the type to get into complicated stuff like this. Learning programming isn't for anyone, after all, so I figure that crystal stuff isn't, either."

"I can manage somehow…" The pink haired queen said while playfully creating a small whirlwind of tiny crystals which swirled around her hand. "Crystals without functions like these are easy to create and creating crystals with simple functions like, for example, emitting light when it gets dark aren't impossible for me either, but…" She pointed at Mana's blessing resting in front of her on the table while shaking her head. "That thing is just way above my level." She admitted with a sigh.

"I get it. It's like telling a car manufacturer to build a spaceship. Something like that, right?"

Inori nodded at hat. Soon afterwards, in a quick flash, Shu appeared at the end of the crystal vine Inori had created earlier to bring him into their room. He appeared while he was in the middle of stretching his limbs, obviously from having just woken up.

"Boy, I slept like a log. What time is it?" He asked as he went over to the table everyone was sitting at.

"Half past four, sleeping beauty. You all better now?" Yahiro inquired with a smirk on his lips.

"FOUR? Damnit, I slept almost half a day…you guys should have woken me up…" The king grumbled in a displeased way and sighed as he made his way over to them.

"Idiot. Who would go wake you when everyone saw you tired enough to collapse on us…" Tsugumi replied with narrowed eyes. "Everyone was worried about your health, stupid."

Inori next to her supported that statement by nodding strongly. Well, minus the "idiot" part.

"Yeah…sorry about that. That kind of backfired on me, so maybe no more remote controlled doll operations for now…" They all saw him scratching the back of his head as he looked down in shame.

"That's probably for the better. Wouldn't want risking your health like that again." Yahiro stated and offered his friend a kind smile. "That said, if you are tired, just take a break. It's fine to rely on us more, you know? Jun and I managed to hold this group together when you were out before and we could do it again, and I was kind of surprised myself, but Inori did a fine job during your absence today as well, so there is no need to do it all yourself."

"Of course she had been doing well, brother." They all suddenly heard the voice of Jun as he entered the room carrying a small stack of documents only to unload it directly in front of his brother. They were probably more documents regarding the Genesis's voids.

"She has been leading the Genesis for 5 years now. She may not look like it, but she knows what she is doing." He finished bragging about his queen with a puffed out chest and his arms folded in front of it.

"And here comes the number one fanboy…" Yahiro said with a sigh and shrugged as he took the first sheet of the stack to have a look at it. "You would expect Shu to be the guy who would put his beloved girlfriend on a pedestal, yet it is my little brother who does so instead."

"Hrmph, you would be proud as well if you had seen how far a way she has come to be the person she is today."

"Oh, I know, alright. I have known her way before you ever did."

"You know nothing about her, brother."

"Ok, could we please not fight over this now?" Shu offered them an awkward smile. "We all know Inori is amazing, so…"

Jun, however, didn't seem to give in so easily. "No, Shu. My brother couldn't possibly know, so it is my duty as the queen's loyal vassal to educate him."

"I think there won't be a need for that, Jun." His queen then suddenly told him calmly. "I have already spent a lot of time with Yahiro. I am fairly sure he knows me well enough by now."

That, eventually, made the younger man calm down as well. "I-is that so…my bad, then."

Meanwhile, Yahiro couldn't help but smirk at that. Hitting Shu with his elbow he said: "I like your girlfriend. She actually manages to make my brother shut up. She's a keeper for sure."

Shu just laughed quietly in return. Realizing that they were just messing around, he decided to stay out of it.

The fun times were soon to fade, though, as Ayase quickly found her way into the room. Less because of the fact that she came in than for the grim expression that she bore on her face. She was accompanied by two other Undertakers, one Genesis and another regular one, who both didn't look all that relaxed, either, given their nervous looks towards Shu and Inori.

"Guys, you would not believe what the scouts just reported back in." The brunette woman had said before she had even come to a halt in front of them all. She looked around and appeared slightly relieved when she saw that Shu had already awoken, which saved her the trouble of waking him in the first place.

"What is it?" Inori then asked the question that was on everyone's mind right then and there.

The Genesis behind Ayase was quick to reply to his queen, albeit unable to hide his anxiety about the current situation.

"My queen! Enemy movements have been detected just outside loop seven. Mana is on the move!"

The faces of everyone present quickly transformed into grimaces of worry as they eyed each other disbelievingly.

"Now? But why?" Yahiro muttered as he bit on the nail on his right thumb.

A displeased "Tch!" escaped the king's lips as he eyed the newcomers with a serious look. "Size of the enemy army?"

The two scouts threw a short glance at each other before returning it back to Shu and the rest.

"That's the thing, Shu. There are only two. One of them is Gai." The human one said. He honestly looked as if he had seen a ghost, which was probably not that far off now that he had seen his dead ex-leader again after all these years.

"Two…?" Inori narrowed her eye in suspicion, probably not less confused than anyone else in the room was. After a short break, she added: "Where are they headed?"

Ayase activated the holo screen with the map of Tokyo on the table and the scouts proceeded to point on the spot they last saw Gai at. Then they drew a straight line directly to where their hideout was located. "…They are heading right this way, Ma'am." The veteran Undertaker said.

Jun couldn't help but raise a brow at that. "You mean, like, right here?" He asked in surprise as he pointed towards the ground at his feet. "What could they possibly want here?"

"This was Gai's base once, Jun. It could be that he merely wants to take it back." Yahiro said, deep in thought. "Though that doesn't necessarily explain why. He already had a pretty damn secure base in Loop seven. Why would he need this one?"

It was the dark haired hacker who thought she could answer that question. "According to Souta, Gai presently doesn't hold a void genome. We assumed he would eventually get the one that Yuu fella took off Shu, but perhaps he intends to take the other one as well?"

They could see Shu clutching his right arm fiercely. "Like hell I would let him…" He grumbled quietly.

"It would make sense, though." Ayase worriedly agreed with Tsugumi. "We are Gai's sole remaining opposition. If he were to take out Shu, Inori alone would not be strong enough to oppose them anymore. And with the SDF unwilling to cooperate with us, we would not be able to compensate for Shu's loss by providing additional manpower." She explained.

"But even so, it's highly suicidal to come here alone, even if he has that Mana person with him. It must be a trap." The brunette strategist among them concluded.

"Trap or not, we can't let him come here. If a fight breaks out, it will draw unnecessary attention towards this place. It would be best to intercept and fight them halfway along the way, then retreat quickly before the SDF could show up and follow us back here." Shu argued with Inori slowly nodding in return.

"I agree. We need to take the fight away from here. There are too many Genesis civilians here who can't fight and might end up getting hurt." It sort of was the same situation with how things were in the void realm. She could not allow herself to go all out in a place where her subjects were close by or they might accidentally get caught by her attacks.

They saw Yahiro folding his arms in front of his chest as he thought about it.

"Normally I would disagree. Letting the enemy come to you, especially if it's a smaller force and you have a base to defend, is actually wiser because you can remain on the defense while taking them out slowly. On the field we lose that defensive advantage, but then again…if this is a trap, which is very likely, it would not be bad to have the option of running away after confirming the actual threat and preparing for it in the hideout. If we were to wait here, we could not run anywhere. We would be sitting ducks with our backs against a wall." He opened his eyes and pointed on a location on the map that was halfway between their and Gai's location. "In that case, what do you think about bringing the fight to that place?"

They threw a look at the location he presented them with and saw a street located a fair distance away from the hideout. Far away enough for no one to guess the location of it if they were to be spotted, but still close enough that they could make a full retreat in almost no time. It had been perfect in a sense, since it was pretty much a given that Gai would take that route, unless he wanted to take a huge detour. Furthermore, it was right next to an old office building that had been stuck in the middle of renovations to its right and a shipyard to its left.

One could be used as a good spot to place long range fighters in who would take advantage of the elevated ground and the other could also be used to hide a small force in who would then proceed to attack the enemy from the flank. If done correctly, that would catch Gai by surprise and throw him off. If he really planned to set a trap, having a few traps themselves could possibly weaken or even nullify the advantage the blond ex-terrorists hoped to gain from it.

But that wasn't even what's best about it. Since the office building was pretty much just a huge construction site and the shipyard was temporarily out of business due to the lockdown and the thereby associated lack of building materials to process, that location was almost guaranteed to be deserted. They should not encounter anyone there and thus, if they were lucky and fast enough, should also remain off the SDF's radar long enough to defeat whatever Gai held in store for them and return home. Otherwise, if the military really would catch wind of their sudden movements, they would either have to try losing them before returning or fighting them head on, ensuring no one was left standing to see where they were retreating to. Both of the latter possibilities were not exactly favorable as it would waste away more of their already very limited resources.

Shu and Inori exchanged a quick glance and nodded at each other. Apparently, they shared the same thought about Yahiro's suggestion.

"Jun, gather the troops, but leave a couple behind to guard this place." Inori told to the younger Samukawa sibling, who immediately responded by bowing and leaving the room as quickly as his feet allowed him to.

"I hope you are ready to take that Endlave of yours out for a run, Ayase." Shu then told the wheelchair bound girl with a playful grin. The devilish smirk the Endlave pilot sent him back was almost frightening enough to make his blood freeze solid in his veins. She emitted so much determination and killing-intend that the king was almost feeling sorry for Gai, but he supposed the blond ex-king had no one but himself to blame for that. After all, it was he and no one else who had made the decision to betray the Undertakers and naturally also Ayase, who had once been very fond of him.

"Oh, you have _no idea_ how ready I am for this." She said, followed by taking a glance at Tsugumi. "Let's go, Tsugumi. Let's show them how Endlaves dance!"

"Right behind you." The black haired hacker said in her usual enthusiastic voice and shut down her small portable computer. Trailing behind her brunette friend, they both exited the room.

"I suppose that leaves me with preparing the non-evolved portion of our forces?" Yahiro then asked with a sigh. Honestly, this attack came at a bad time. If he had known Gai and Mana would attack anyway, he wouldn't have wasted so much effort with thinking about a good strategy to storm loop seven.

No, they would still have to attack Da'ath after this, so the plan remained the same. It was just that they would face Gai and Mana ahead of time. To be frank, it didn't make much sense to him. He was told that Mana was a reckless powerhouse willing to storm into battle headfirst (or at least let her forces do as much seeing as to how she usually didn't fight herself) but Gai? Everything he heard about the former Undertaker leader was that he had been a clever man who always entered battle with multiple strategies in mind. For him to face them directly with no army to back him up? It sounded more than just fishy. Something was definitely up. He just hoped it wasn't anything they couldn't cope with.

"We'll leave it to you." "Please do." Shu and Inori answered at the same time, which resulted in him nodding understandingly, followed by leaving in slight haste. There was no time to waste.

This left the royal couple to all but themselves. An unpleasant silence now filled the room around them as they were pondering what this was really all about. Naturally, they, too, thought of Gai's movements as odd. It didn't make much sense and left them with the uncomfortable feeling of having overlooked something. Yet no matter how long they kept thinking about it, they still couldn't quite put their finger on it. Everything about it was just…strange.

"The first battle sure came earlier than expected…" Shu mumbled quietly.

"It's also not quite on the same scale as we previously thought it would be." His pink haired queen agreed with a slightly worried expression. "I have a bad feeling about this, Shu. Something horrible is about to happen."

"I feel the same, but don't worry. I will protect you." Shu then said as he embraced her with a serious expression. She then, too, decided to hold him close to her, letting her fingers slowly brush through his brown hair. An action which seemed to calm her down a bit, given how much she relaxed in his arms.

"I don't know what this is all about, but I won't let anything bad happen to us. We have come too far for us to fall now." He continued to say.

"Don't worry about me. I am more than ready to protect everything I hold dear. I will not let anything stand between us anymore. Not Mana, nor Gai. I am yours." She declared determinedly and Shu could feel her hug becoming slightly stronger as if to emphasize her wish to never be separated from him again. A gentle smile appeared on the king's lips as he decided to look her in the eyes.

"That's right. You are mine and I am yours. That's how it always has been and always will be." As he had said that, he had felt as if he would slowly sink into the beautiful sea of red that was her eyes. A sudden urge befell him right then and there. Unable to resist it any longer, he went with the flow and drew nearer to her lips. The sea in front of him gradually vanished as she slowly closed her eyes, and was instead replaced by the incredible soft sensation of her small lips. Now closing his eyes as well, he fully gave in to feeling of joy that overcame him. He allowed himself to absorb the warmth of her slightly smaller body completely, realizing again how stark the contrast of her powers stood with her rather delicate stature.

It almost made him fear he would accidentally break her by holding her too close, which made him subconsciously hold back. A fact his beloved queen seemed to realize immediately and caused her to use the hand on the back of his head to gently draw him closer, as if greedy for his love. Something he would not need to think twice about before giving it to her. All her wishes, all her desires…he would gladly fulfill them no matter the cost. For she was his queen and thus everything to him. As, and that he was absolutely sure of, he was to her.

As the two monarchs stood as one, the world around them slowly faded off their minds. It was almost as if it stopped being important when they felt all they truly needed was each other. And as the world vanished into oblivion, so did the war, Da'ath, Mana and Gai. For these few seconds, none of them truly mattered to them.

However, despite their strong wish for this moment to continue for all eternity, reality was nowhere near as kind enough as to let that be so. When the inevitable need for oxygen forced them apart again, they did so with nothing but longing in their eyes, making it all too obvious how little they appreciated their involuntary separation.

Standing as close as to let their foreheads touch each other, they stood in silence, slowly catching their breath again. None of them said anything anymore, for words had become completely obsolete at this point. They just stood in each other's arms and tried to enjoy the closeness they shared.

Even that moment appeared to hold on for quite a while. Until, at long last, Shu reluctantly decided to break the silence.

"We need to go now, Inori." He said and felt nothing but regret as soon as he felt her arms slowly letting go of him. The more her warmth left him, the more he actually wished he had waited for just a bit longer.

"Yes…" Inori replied with so much hesitation that it became all too obvious that she, too, was forcing herself to let him go.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine as long as we have each other." He tried to reassure her by gently stroking her left cheek with his right hand, which summoned a small smile on her lips.

"I know." Was all she said as she put her own hand over his. It cost him all his self-control to not give in to his desire to remain here with her and instead turn around for the door and taking the first step towards it, knowing full too well that he would never be able to leave if he were to embrace her again.

However, he hadn't even made the first step before Inori was already at his right, interlacing her arm with his. Sharing another short passionate look with each other, they then stepped forward together as king and queen.

It was time to end this. Once and for all.


	12. Confrontation

**12\. Confrontation**

The sound of footsteps echoed through the empty streets as the new Adam ran through them, still carrying his weak Eve in his arms. It was fortunate that the streets were mostly empty for it made advancing so much easier, but at the same time, it had a somewhat eerie vibe to it. It almost made him feel like he was running through a ghost town, fleeing from no one else but death himself. Ironically enough, he did so by running into the direction of no one else but his biggest rivals and arch enemies, hoping that they would become allies instead to fight a more powerful, common enemy.

It was almost funny if you thought about it. Adam and Eve, running from the place they would have normally viewed as paradise since it had promised them to be the birthplace of their new world, now shunned, because they had dared to reach further than they had been allowed to. Now they were forced to flee like fallen angels, castaways of the holy realm, trying to seek help from the evil forces of hell who tried to overthrow heaven for utterly selfish reasons.

But wasn't something off? Gai wondered. In that example, was it truly Da'ath who was the angels? Or wasn't it rather Shu and Inori who tried to oppose the dark intentions of the shady organization with noble intentions?

No, in the first place, the world wasn't as black and white as the mythological stories of the Christian religion made it out to be. Shu and Inori, him and Mana…not even Da'ath itself was made up of evilness alone. Nor were they completely good, either. They were just all driven by their desires to attain their perfect future and possessed the will to do anything in their might to attain it in the end. There were no dark or noble intentions. Only selfishness. And that was good, for selfish people could, unlike noble or shady ones, always be tried to reason with.

Of course, reasoning can fail at times, like it did with Da'ath, but that didn't mean it would also do with Shu and Inori. He was positive that he at least held a genuine chance of success with these two.

As he headed around a corner into the next street with these thoughts in mind, he came to a sudden halt once he saw what awaited him. In front of him several layers of crystal spikes had been set up as some sort of barrier by sticking out of the ground diagonally with their pointy end facing him. They had been set up in such a way, that it would impale soldiers if they were to mindlessly charge at them head first. If an army were to charge forward in full speed, the people behind would press the people in front of them right into the spikes, effectively killing at least the first few rows of attackers. Luckily for Gai, he had no army to lose in such a way, yet it was still a very imposing view.

Not least because of the dozens of soldiers behind said barrier who held either their voids or firearms readily in their hands, directing the harmful end determinedly in Gai's direction with hateful expressions on their faces. In the middle of them, on top of a military Humvee, Shu and Inori proudly stood hair and scarfs blowing in the cold winter wind. Armed with the singer's sword and two crystal twin blades respectively they eyed Gai with nothing but suspicion in their eyes, ready to make use of their weapons the first second their former friend would give them a reason to.

"Going somewhere, Gai?" The blond man could hear Shu say. Simultaneously, he heard the sound of rifle and pistol safeties being unlocked and voids charged up. This was definitely bad. He had to make sure he wasn't turned into Swiss cheese before he would even get the chance to explain.

"Don't shot! We come in peace!"

"You should have stayed in the void realm, Gai. You are not welcome here." Inori replied coldly next to Shu. Gai understood what she meant.

Last time they had met, it was meant as a final goodbye between them. After his and Mana's defeat, they had been meant to stay in the void realm forever. It had been the only way for them all to remain together with whom they loved without being forced to fight against each other again. Well, Mana would have been separated from Shu, but she would have still had Gai at her side, so she wouldn't have been all alone. In Inori's eyes, it would have been the best possible outcome for all of them. He, however, had ignored that possibility and returned to the real world with Mana, thus effectively going against his own advice to remain separated from Inori and Shu like he had suggested himself. The coldness Inori showed him now was a reflection of her lack of sympathy for him and his actions. He shouldn't complain afterwards is what she was most likely trying to say. If he ended up dying today through her hands, it would be because of his own mistake.

But he had known that already, so it didn't bother him that much.

"Remaining in the void realm had been impossible after Yuu had shown up, offering Mana a way to follow Shu into the real world. It was simply unavoidable." He explained calmly.

"That doesn't magically mean you would be welcome here." Shu said with many Undertakers, Genesis and humans alike, silently nodding in agreement. Well, Gai sure had become rather unpopular with these folks, not that it really surprised him.

"If we are not welcomed here, there is nowhere else for us to go…" He replied quietly and shook his head slowly, causing both royals in front of him to raise a brow at him.

"What do you mean?" Inori wanted to know.

"Mana and I have attempted to betray Da'ath and failed. Now they want us dead. They have poisoned Mana, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to fight and had then attempted to kill me. We barely managed to escape with our lives…" He told them truthfully, yet Shu only narrowed his eyes on him in scorn. A mocking smirk appeared on his face.

"Really now. Betrayed you say. Did you hear that, Inori? He must think of us as idiots." Gai frowned at that reaction. He had not expected that. The smirk vanished from Shu's lips as his face transformed into a serious, no-bullshit expression.

"What's the long face for, Gai? What, did you honestly believe we would buy such ridiculous stories? You betraying Da'ath? Them poisoning Eve? Are you still treating me like a fool?" He clenched his free fist and ran it through the air angrily. Next to him, Inori resumed his talk with a clearly displeased look in her eyes.

"We know what you really came here for, Gai…"

"Please, by all means, enlighten me…" The blond man wondered, still frowning.

"Isn't it obvious?" Shu then answered a bit calmer than before. "We are aware that you lack the void genome. So, in an attempt to steal mine, you pretend to have betrayed Da'ath because you thought we would simply let you in. Then, waiting for the right moment to strike, you would then choose a moment in which my guard is down to take the genome off me. Or perhaps, you would even attempt to assassinate Inori as of Mana's orders. Either way, it won't work. We don't trust you and we won't let you in."

So that's it, Gai thought, as he finally understood. Shu and Inori knew of his missing genome and therefore assumed he would secretly attempt to steal Shu's sole remaining one. Not knowing that it would do him little good to take Shu's one since it had already become unsuitable to be used as an 'Adam crown' by him.

"I see. Certainly it would look like that." He admitted. "But you must believe me when I say we have no intentions of fighting you. In fact, we have no real reason to still stand on opposite sides."

"And why is that?" Inori asked, still suspecting him to be lying.

"Because Shu is no longer Mana's Adam. I am."

Inori continued eying Gai for a while before turning to Shu with narrowed eyes.

"He's lying, Shu. There is no way Mana would reconsider at such a convenient time. She didn't even change her Adam back when we were still trapped in the void realm for 5 years, even though she could have easily left if she had done it. Why would she do it now?"

Her king nodded at her words. She had a point. It sounded way too fishy.

"No, it's the truth. I was quite surprised myself, thinking I would get killed, but I took a risk and it paid off. I became Mana's Adam last night."

That, in return, made Shu's eyes widen in realization. Last night, he said? Wasn't it last night had he had felt a huge burden being lifted off his shoulders? Could that have been the cause? He wasn't exactly sure, though.

"I want Mana to confirm your claim…" Shu then demanded calmly. Gai was a smooth talker. He could claim the sky was green with a straight face and people would believe him at least long enough until they had looked up to confirm his lie. That's how good he was with words, but Mana? Mana was a straightforward individual. She always said what she thought and would sooner die than support anything that differed from her own opinion. If Gai was lying about the fact he became Adam, Mana would immediately call him out on it. When he saw an uncomfortable look appear on Gai's face, he had all the more reason to grow suspicious of him.

"She has been paralyzed, Shu. She can't speak right now."

"Now that just sucks for you, because unless I hear it from her, I won't believe a single word you say."

"Tch." Gai cursed mentally. This wasn't going well for them at all. He hadn't expected things to go exactly smoothly, but Shu and Inori were mistrusting them far more than he had initially thought they would. Had he and Mana been so harsh to them? Well, yeah, he then realized, they had. He, at one point, had been willing to sacrifice Inori to get Mana back and Mana had waged war on Inori mentally as much as physically ever since she had existed. It was only natural they would not trust them easily. He had to try harder. They couldn't afford not getting Shu and Inori on their side now that they had come here. It was pretty much all or nothing.

His eyes then grew wide from surprise when he saw Mana trying to move her hand. She couldn't do more than shake it a tiny bit, but that was all he needed to see. In her right hand, a crystal still lied. If they used this, they could speak with her. He hadn't considered it, because he had assumed Mana was still unconscious, but her movements showed him that she, in fact, had heard them and was willing to participate in the talk. That could be helpful, unless Mana would decide to say something unnecessary. He just hoped she would behave.

"We could try a crystal connection to speak with her, if that's okay with you." He offered them.

Shu and Inori eyed each other briefly before the latter proceeded to destroy the crystal blade on her right hand to form a simple crystal clump in it. Shu put a hand on it from above while Inori held it from below, thus the connection was made. Gai then nodded and put a hand on the crystal in Mana's hand as well. From that point onward, the conversation would resume mentally.

" _Foolish little brother…making your troubled big sister talk over crystals when her mind is already in disarray…"_ they could hear Mana's voice speak in their heads.

" _After all the shit you and Gai had put us through, that much trouble should be a given…"_ Shu's voice answered.

" _What WE have made you go through? If anything, it is you two that had made life hell for me…do you even know how much pain you caused me, Shu?"_

" _You have caused it yourself."_ Inori butted in, much to Mana's displeasure.

" _Who was even talking to you, fake? Be a good puppet and shut up when real people are talking."_

" _Enough of this stupid bickering, all of you."_ Gai tried to calm them down. _"We are trying to get along here, remember?"_

" _I don't know why you brought us here, Triton. They would never understand."_ The true Eve grumbled disapprovingly.

" _So is it true? Did Gai really become your Adam?"_ Inori tried to get back to the point at hand.

" _Yeah, he did. I was sick and tired of Shu's denial. Now that Triton is my Adam, I can't even see why I was so dead set on Shu in the first place. He has changed a lot from being the adorable little brother he once had been."_ Her voice sounded sad, almost regretting.

" _Same goes for you, sis."_ Shu was quick to follow up with her.

" _As you can see, Shu, Inori, What I have said just now is true. I have become Adam, and so further fighting will not be needed among us. Mana will be with me, so Shu can be with Inori. Everybody wins, right?"_

" _Hrmph, yeah. Turns out my little brother prefers to play with dolls, but I don't mind anymore. Let him do as he pleases…"_ They could hear Mana say in a slightly offended sounding voice. She may have been over Shu, but her pride was probably still hurt because she had lost to a fake.

Shu and Inori narrowed their eyes at that remark, but chose to remain silent regarding that matter to avoid further bickering.

" _So, where does that leave us here?"_ Shu inquired. _"If we assume you really cut ties with Da'ath, does that mean you have also given up on the apocalypse?"_

" _Given up? Of course not. The world is ours to claim. Such is the fate of Adam and Eve."_ Mana was quick to correct him, much to Gai's displeasure. Mana really was rather straightforward, wasn't she? He would have rather tried to either keep that a secret for now or try to put it into better words. With the way she had put it, naturally neither Shu nor Inori would really want to help. They had to rail them in, rather than shoo them away. Well, it didn't really matter. He had already expected things to go this way, which is why he had thought about possible arguments to convince the other couple of supporting them in advance.

" _But that's not a problem now, is it? You two have already evolved, right? With your gained immunity to the virus, you will remain unaffected, and since Shu isn't Adam anymore, no one would tear you two apart anymore."_

But Inori only shook her head, much to the confusion of every Undertaker and Genesis around them. Since they couldn't hear the conversation, all they could do is assume how it went by analyzing their facial expression as time went on.

" _I object. Mana cannot be allowed to become queen. The void realm is a good example of what would eventually happen."_

" _Why you little…"_ Mana growled angrily before getting interrupted by Shu.

" _I think so, too. Mana is not fit to be queen."_

" _The void realm was something different."_ Gai argued against them. _"The war Mana waged on Inori was fueled by jealousy that no longer applies. With her chosen Adam having changed, the reason for her jealousy should have vanished, rendering further dispute among the queens unnecessary, no?"_

" _Besides, I was a queen who was adored by her subjects back before Inori showed up in the void realm. If she had never showed up, there would never even have been a war in the first place. However, with her suddenly popping up and trying to not only take Shu but also my kingdom away…unforgivable…"_ Mana added angrily, causing the fake Eve to eye her angrily as well.

" _I had no such intentions from the very beginning. It was all your baseless paranoia that made you start the war. Because of the war, you started neglecting your citizens, treating them badly and eventually causing them to run over to me from whom they sought shelter and protection. It was you who forced me to become queen all along."_

" _Does it really matter anymore?"_ Gai sighed in frustration. _"It's over. Rather than the past, shouldn't we focus on the future?"_

" _The future is not looking any better."_ Shu then piped up again. _"After all, who guarantees that Mana won't try to kill Inori again after she has become queen of the world?"_

Gai didn't hesitate to reply before Mana could get the chance. _"I do. You keep forgetting that I will be king as well. And as her king, I naturally will only aim to make her happy. I saw how the war against Inori had gnawed on her for years. That's not what I wish for her, so I will put my utmost effort into keeping her mind far away from thoughts about war and the like. In fact, I was considering making you two king and queen of Europe or something. You would live far away and be second to none but us. Mana would not have to think about you as much and I will keep her preoccupied with other thoughts until she forgets about you while you two would have all the authority to do whatever you want on the other half of the globe, as long as it doesn't oppose Mana or me. How does that sound?"_ He offered them with a smug expression. It was as if his eyes were saying "I just made you an offer you can't possibly refuse."

" _Europe?"_ The voices of Shu, Inori and Mana could be heard at the same time. All of them sounding rather shocked about the proposal.

Mana couldn't help but be rather infuriated by Gai's words. However, she was at least decent enough to say the following only to him alone, without letting Shu and Inori hear:

" _Europe? Are you crazy, Triton? I wouldn't even give her Antarctica! What are you thinking offering titles and land to that fake without consulting me first?"_ Apparently, as far as Mana was concerned, Inori could live the life of a poor peasant for the rest of her life and eventually die and rot in a hole for all she cared. Considering all the hardships Mana had had to endure because of her, she was convinced Inori should feel grateful for Mana's willingness to even allow her to continue living in her world. To bestow titles and land to someone like her was simply outrageous. What was Gai thinking?

" _Calm down, love. Think about it more like bestowing a title to Shu with Inori merely attaining it through him."_ He tried to calm her down slowly.

" _That's still the same as if giving it to her directly!"_

" _Then would you seriously deny your own brother nobility just to deny it Inori as well?"_

" _But that's…"_

" _Listen, Mana. Shu loves Inori and that will never change. If you abandon one, you will inevitably abandon the other and if you choose to support one, you will also have to support the other. No one forces you to like her, it is not your job to like her. That's Shu's job. The job as a sister is to either be happy for him or to cut all ties with him. Now say, Mana. Do you hate Shu?"_

If Mana could move, she would probably bite on her lower lip now. After a short while of silence, she answered:

"… _I…I do not hate my brother. Even though he denied me…even though he chose a fake over me, he is still my little brother. My sole remaining family…"_ She admitted somewhat sadly.

Gai nodded at that understandingly. " _Then it doesn't seem like discarding him will be an option for you. If you want to remain a family, you will have to accept whoever he wishes to be with. Even if you don't like her. I know you are strong enough to do that, Mana."_

" _But…but…Europe? What if we want to go to Europe as well?"_ Mana still tried to object, but he just gently shook his head while offering her a smile.

" _Europe will still be ours. They will merely govern it for us so that we can focus on the rest of the world. Like governors, you see? If we wanted to go to Europe, we could always go there. You would just have to make sure not to pick a fight with them while we are there."_

" _Uuuu~…"_ Mana made a sound as if she was still somewhat against it, but eventually it looked like she gave in. _"…fine. Have it your way. But they will owe us. And no more offerings without consulting me first, are we clear?"_ She said with a voice that sounded slightly bitter. Like a kid that had lost at a game. He imagined Mana would be pouting now if she could move. Cute. He considered patting her on the head, but couldn't really do it since he was still carrying her in both hands.

" _Understood."_ He agreed with a smile, thankful that convincing her had gone well. Now they only had to wait and hear Shu and Inori's answer to their proposal.

Said couple had blocked out Gai and Mana as well as they had considered their options.

And to be honest, they weren't really sure if they should accept or not. On the bright side, helping them would mean they could fight Da'ath together with one more queen fighting on their side, opposed to having her as an enemy. That alone was already quite nice, but that wasn't even all. If Mana would ascend the throne as true queen, the whole mess with Adam and Eve would finally be over at long last. No more endless revivals, no more endless killing. Just like that. And they would have to lie if they were to say they wouldn't wish for an end to all the fighting. Plus, there was the whole Europe stuff as well. And while they didn't particularly care about titles and such, they would at least allow them to have the life they had always wanted. A life where they were free to do whatever the heck they wanted. After all, who were to tell them what to do after they had become direct subordinates of Adam and Eve aside from Adam and Eve themselves?

But that's also where the tricky part started. See, who was to guarantee them that Gai and Mana would keep their word? Maybe things would work out initially but then Mana would snap later and kill them anyway? What if it was just a mere plot to make them help get rid of Da'ath and then dispose of them right away? What if it was a trap in the first place and they hadn't really betrayed Da'ath at all? Maybe they were only seeking to lead them headfirst into an ambush to get the void genome after all?

Leaving that aside, there was another problem as well. Let's say they were telling the truth and would keep their word…what about the fate of humanity? The Genesis were immune to the virus, but what about the rest? Billions of people would die during the evolution due to natural selection. They could possibly make Mana craft enough blessings for their friends and relatives, but the rest would be doomed. Would that be worth it?

Their options were either to accept their offer and become accomplices, or refuse it and fight Da'ath on their own. Both options had their risks and advantages, but which one was the right one to choose?

Shu was especially torn about this. There was nothing he wanted more than peace and Gai's offer would in theory not only ensure Da'ath's removal, but also save him the trouble of having to find a way to deal with Mana as well. He couldn't kill her, or she would simply come back, so what else was he supposed to do with her if not form an alliance? Keep her locked away in a dungeon for the rest of her life? Wasn't that too cruel a fate even for someone like her? Even if he had said he didn't really view her as his sister anymore, he still realized he couldn't just do that to her after all. Was there even a way to confine her safely for that long? Just what was he supposed to do…?

" _I don't know what we should do, Inori."_ He admitted to her in his mind. Only she could hear him this time, for these thoughts were meant to be heard by her and no one else. _"We need to decide, but I can't come to a conclusion…"_

" _It is a hard choice…"_ She agreed. _"Back when I felt like this in the void realm, I used to ask myself what you or Gai would have done."_

Her king smiled bitterly. That wasn't really an option now, was it? He didn't even know what he should do himself and while he knew what Gai would want him to do, that didn't necessarily mean it would be the best course of action for them as well. That's why she continuedwhile slowly shaking her head.

" _If that wasn't an option, I tried instead to think what a queen would want to do."_

A queen, huh? In his case, it would be king, but that didn't really make much of a difference. So, what would a king do in such a situation? Well, he thought, a king wasn't just a mere politician like the ones he had known from TV. Politicians were nothing but liars, pretending to serve the people when they almost exclusively served themselves. They tended to earn a lot of money in their positions which eventually corrupted them and caused them to make decisions not really based on the wellbeing of the people who had elected him, but rather on their own wellbeing. Even if they seemed to do something for the people, it was still only a pretense because they were actually only bribing them with seemingly good deeds, so that they would get elected again. It was a system of corruption. No, kingship was different, he realized.

Kings were no servants of the people. Rather than pretending to always act in their best interest, a king's responsibilities lied far, far deeper. Thinking about what was best for his citizens was part of it, but a king would also have to consider the wellbeing of himself, his family and the kingdom as a whole. Thinking only about his kingdom would ruin his family and himself, thinking only about his citizens would destroy the kingdom and thinking about only himself and his family would eventually cost him his crown and possibly his life as well.

It was a scale that was very hard to balance. But things were luckily a bit easier for Shu. He and Inori did not have a kingdom to call their own, so that part was none of their concern. The family aspect didn't look that great either. Shu's family was the sorriest excuse for a family he had ever seen. A dead mother he had never even known, a father who had died so early, that he barely even remembered his face anymore, a sister which was cursed with bringing the apocalypse and has only brought misfortune over him during the past few years...the only thing close to family he actually had was Haruka and she wasn't even related to him by blood.

Still, she was all he had. Blood relation or not, she was still his mother to him. And with that being the case, he supposed Keido as his step uncle was to be considered family as well. Inori for her part was even worse off than he was, with no family to call her own to begin with. So that meant that in terms of family, there wasn't a lot to consider as well. Though, hopefully, that would change in the future when he and Inori would start one of their own…

Which eventually left him with the citizens aspect…he slowly looked around him at the Undertakers who surrounded them. Genesis as well as humans stood at their sides, ready to fight for them. Half of them, namely the human part, would probably not really refer to Shu and Inori as king or queen, but still…these people could be considered their loyal followers. So, Shu asked himself, did he have to decide with them in mind as well? Probably. Well, let's look at this rationally then.

First, what was best for his mother and Keido? Since Keido had already evolved and said that he had given up on the apocalypse, Shu supposed he wouldn't mind things going either way. His mother, however, would benefit from Gai and Mana's proposal. He would probably be able to get one of these Eve's blessings for her from Mana, so her evolution would be guaranteed and if they were all able to make peace with each other, Haruka could also be reunited with Mana as well, though he wasn't sure if either of them would really care much about that. It wasn't as if he thought his step mother wouldn't care about Mana, but rather that she seemed to have found closure regarding her and their father's death the first time it had happened. Mana for her part did not seem to particularly care much for Haruka, which he supposed he could understand. She hadn't really known her all that long and unlike him, she had actually known their biological mother before she had died, so naturally, Mana wouldn't feel very close to Haruka. So, was a reunion really desirable? Probably not. Haruka's main concern would probably be with the elimination of Da'ath and nothing more. If it's just that, he and Inori could probably do so even without relying on Gai and Mana. At least that had been the original plan.

Then, what about the Undertakers? This included all his and Inori's friends as well. Ayase, Tsugumi, Yahiro, Souta, Argo, Hare, Jun, …Seriously, that were a lot of people to consider. And it wasn't just their friends. There were regular followers Shu and Inori probably didn't even know personally. What would they want? The humans would certainly not want him and Inori to agree with Gai and Mana's deal. It would mean the apocalypse would happen and they would likely die. Shu doubted he would be able to convince Mana to grant them all blessings. She simply wasn't the type to do charity. If he insisted, he would probably get enough for their friends, but the rest? They would definitely lose out. And the Genesis? They were immune, but apart from the ones who simply fought to survive or followed them out of loyalty towards their king and queen, many of them actually wished to prevent the apocalypse as well to save their non-evolved family members from dying. So, that was a clear no in their case.

But family and citizens aside, what was his own take on this whole thing? If he disregarded everything else, would he wish to accept the offer? Honestly speaking, it sounded awfully good. Da'ath would die, his mother and friends would evolve with the help of blessings and he could start a new life with Inori far, far away from Japan which, so far, hadn't exactly been a very nice home country for him. So yeah, if he were to consider his own selfish wishes, he would actually be in favor of accepting. Even if it was a trap, it would still be worth the risk considering the possible gain.

Lastly, that left him with yet the most important aspect to consider. What did Inori want? He could consider the feelings of everyone else all day and it wouldn't really matter to him if he wouldn't know what his beloved queen actually wished for. There really wasn't much sense in accepting the offer if Inori had no desire to do so in the first place. This whole line of thought up to now had been solely based on the assumption that she would actually want to accept the offer. Maybe he should have inquired about that sooner…

" _Say, Inori. What do you think we should do?"_

" _Me?"_ Her voice sounded a bit surprised, which in return surprised him as well.

" _Naturally, you are my queen, are you not? Isn't this a decision we should make together rather than me alone?"_

" _You are right, it's just…my opinion might be a bit biased."_ She admitted with a bit of hesitation.

" _I don't care. It's still your opinion. Let's hear it."_

" _Well, to be honest, the offer sounds really good and all, but no matter how good it sounds, it's an offer from Mana in the end. Even if she claims she would be a good queen…I would still have a hard time seeing her as anything else but a bad one. It might be because of our past, but I would never want to choose a future in which Mana would become queen…"_ She admitted while averting her eyes. Shu understood what she meant with bias and honestly, it wasn't like he wouldn't see where she was coming from.

Inori was far away from being a cold and unforgiving person, but Mana was someone who had caused her pain for many, many years, even before the void realm. After such a long time, even a kind and understanding heart such as Inori's would grow wary of such a person. After all, if you had been tormented by someone for years and that someone would eventually come up to you and offer you a fresh start, would you honestly consider it? Naturally there would be distrust. It wasn't as if he didn't feel like that himself. He still didn't trust Gai and Mana completely, either. It was just the prospect of the possible gain that made him so willingly overlook the risks.

" _A reasonable argument."_ He told her calmly. _"I would actually be quite uneasy knowing Mana would constantly stand above me as well. All would be fine as long as she were to keep her word, but if she weren't? Who would even be able to stop her after she would become the absolute queen of the world?"_

" _Exactly. I know it's rather selfish of me to still deny her wishes, even though she apparently tries to meet us halfway, but it can't be helped. My wariness of her I have developed over all these years can't be so easily overcome just like that. And it's not only me, I am sure that many Genesis would see it the same way."_

That much was probably true. For Genesis, having Mana put in charge again would probably be the same as how putting GHQ back in charge would feel for Japan as a whole. Even the best of promises would not be able to mend an image that had already been soiled by fear and distrust to such an extreme extent. Shu sighed.

" _Speaking of which…wouldn't we pretty much betray the Undertakers as a whole if we were to side with Gai and Mana now? They had joined us because they had thought we would stop the apocalypse. For us to suddenly support it now, I wonder if it wouldn't be too selfish a move."_

He saw Inori giving him a strong nod in response. Naturally, she must have already realized and taken that into consideration as well. For someone who hated betrayal very much, the pink haired queen would need a very good reason to actually go along with it. Of course, he himself hadn't been very fond of betrayals as well for…obvious reasons regarding his past. The more he thought about it, the more he actually felt bad about even considering taking that offer. After all, how could he, who never wanted to be betrayed again, expect that to be the case if he himself had almost considered betraying others?

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. That was what he should aim to abide by.

" _However…regardless of my worries, if you say you really want to accept, I won't oppose it."_ Inori eventually told him.

" _Even though we would be betraying everyone?"_ The king couldn't help but ask in surprise.

" _If I had to betray someone either way, that someone would never be you. I will always support you, Shu, no matter what."_ As he looked at her in awe, a small smile appeared on her lips. She had also taken his hand in such a way that their fingers could interlace, letting the crystal they had used for communications perish between their palms. That, in return, caused him to smile at her as well. It must have probably looked awkward to everyone around them, since no one could hear the conversation, but neither of those two really cared about such minor details.

Shu then offered her a strong nod as if telling her "I understand, leave it to me.". Once he saw her return it calmly, he turned around to eye their Undertakers, who so far had waited an explanation patiently. That was something Shu would no longer deny them.

"Listen well, everyone. Gai and Mana came to us to make us an offer. That offer consists of them joining forces with us to destroy Da'ath together, followed by us helping them bringing the apocalypse afterwards, promising me and Inori titles and authority in their future kingdom if we were to agree." He told them.

The faces of the Undertakers showed various emotions. Surprise was the most common one, followed by anger or hatred. Many started yelling in a displeased fashion while only few of them remained indifferent.

"Voicing your opinion regarding this matter will not be necessary, since my queen and I have already come to a conclusion." He told them with a loud and serious voice, silencing them immediately. Ignoring their nervous stares among each other, he turned around to Gai, who was eying him with high expectations. Shu could almost see the satisfied grin that only waited to emerge on his lips, yet the blond man held on to his poker face for the moment.

"So, Gai, are you ready to hear our answer?"

The ex-leader of the Undertakers nodded slowly and respectfully. "Yes, please share it with us."

With eyes narrowing down slowly as he looked down on Gai from his higher position, he eventually said coldly:

"We refuse." Relieved sighs and cheers could be heard from the Undertakers behind him soon after.

Gai, however, almost lost his composure. His eyes were open wide from surprise over these words, until the shock got gradually replaced by disappointment now that their meaning slowly started to sink in. Refusal…but…why? It shouldn't have been a bad offer. He didn't pick up any bad vibes during their negotiations, either. Did he miss something? Perhaps he could still fix this?

Clearing his throat, slowly he asked: "Can I ask why? Was the offer not to your liking? Perhaps we can still come to an understanding?"

But Shu only shook his head in response. "The offer was good. Great in fact, but tell me Gai…do you have enough blessings from your queen to save all these people and their families?" He said as he raised his arms to both his sides, clearly referring to the people standing around him. The moment Gai eyed these people, he was quick to realize that they had all returned to their previous tasks of aiming their weapons back at him with suspecting looks. It became horribly clear that all they were waiting for at this point was one little order from either Shu or Inori to gun him down. Either that or him making any sudden moves. This was getting bad quickly.

"That many? No, Shu, but I can assure you that there would be enough for your frien-" The blond man still tried, now with sweat running down the back of his neck, which was thankfully hidden by his long hair.

"That's not good enough…" Inori interrupted him harshly with Shu nodding at her words.

"Exactly. It's either all or no one. Now, Gai, what will it be?" The brown haired king asked with piercing eyes. Gai was slowly getting irritated by this, stepping forward energetically, he yelled:

"Listen, Shu,…!" The moment he had done that, Inori had stepped forward as well, pointing her hand at him. The crystal spike barrier in front of him made dangerous sounding rattling noises as they grew slowly into his direction. The soldiers were also tensing up and reading themselves to fire at him. This immediately made him stop right at his tracks, reconsidering his words carefully.

"…are you really throwing away the possibility of a better future just for the sake of some random people you barely even know? Who are they to you? Do you even know their names? Are their lives worth more than becoming friends with me and your sister again? Granted, we would not get back to our old childhood days immediately, but with time, we could definitely improve. We could get back the relationship we once shared with each other with no one having to lose anything of importance at all. We are literally offering you all you ever wanted and more. You as well, Inori." He calmly said, shifting focus to Inori at the last moment.

"You just want to be with Shu, don't you? Help us and you get just that. It's not even like the people you knew from the void realm would come to harm, if that's your concern. You can still have them around you in the new world if you so wish. They have already evolved, so it's fine. Or are you meaning to tell me these random Undertakers you barely even interacted with in the past mean more to you than Shu does?" He was happy to see her shaking her head immediately.

"Nothing is more important to me than Shu is." She told him defiantly. "But helping you is not the only way for me to remain at Shu's side. If I have to discard someone, I would rather do so with a former enemy who claims to be an ally than with people who had chosen to fight with me of their own, free will all along…"

Gai cursed mentally and frowned at that response. So that's what it was all about. They were still not trusted. No wonder the negotiations had failed, then. Even the best of offers were no use if you didn't have the other party's trust. He looked down at Mana regrettably, only to see her clenched fists tremble slightly. There was no doubt she was angry right now. No, furious was probably a more suitable word. But wait, she couldn't move, yet her fists trembled? It wasn't much, but it was an improvement nonetheless. She was getting better even without help.

It was very regrettable that he hadn't been able to persuade Shu and Inori into helping, but if Mana would recover even without the help of voids, their aid wasn't all that necessary. Sure, it would have been helpful and very welcome but Gai and Mana could still fight Da'ath on their own as long as the effects of the poison would eventually wear off. If that's the case, he would just have to get out of here alive with her and wait it out somewhere warm and hidden. It wouldn't exactly be easy for them to find such a place, but he would simply have to deal with t. There was no other way now that negotiation had failed.

"I see…you have a point. Perhaps it was insolent of us to simply come here, expecting you to help. After all, you have no reason to trust us in the first place…" Gai admitted eventually as he offered them a small, apologetic bow. "Please excuse us, then. We will no longer waste any of your time by overstaying our welcome…" He made a few steps backwards, followed by turning around and attempting to leave, only to see an Endlave coming forth from around the corner, cutting off his escape route. It was a simple, basic model, yet also enclosed in what looked like a thick crystal layer resembling armor. In fact, if it weren't for the still visible mechanical joints that had had to be left alone for the machine to still remain operational, one would have actually been able to believe it was a crystal golem come to life.

"Sorry, Gai, but you are going nowhere…" Ayase's voice found its way into his ears through the machine's speakers, followed by footsteps of many people all around him. The soldiers behind him had come forth and surrounded him with Shu and Inori stepping in front of them confidently.

"What's this now, Shu?" He wanted to know, not letting his uneasiness be heard in his voice.

"You think we would let you go? You hold the key to the apocalypse in your arms, Gai. We can't just let you walk away from this."

"Do you think that's fair? We didn't come here with ill intentions and have shown no signs of attacking you from the start. Courtesy provides one should do the same to the other party after negotiations are over. Even if they fail." Gai argued, looking awfully annoyed, yet also slightly nervous.

"Yeah, but you see, that's the thing." Shu told him with a shrug. "Terrorists don't have to play by the rules."

"Please don't show any resistance and we promise to not kill you." Inori added to that. Naturally, they wouldn't seek to kill Mana, given her immortality. If they were to kill her, she would simply come back again, so the plan was to capture her alive. Gai, on the other hand…well, while they didn't necessarily want to kill him, he wasn't required to stay alive, either, so it was best to warn him now before he considered doing something rash out of desperation.

The blond man threw a quick glance around him and could easily tell that he did not stand a chance at getting out of this somehow unharmed. He was hopelessly outnumbered and there were no openings. And even if there were, he knew better than to try getting away from Ayase, who was nothing short of an ace when operating an Endlave. Was this the end? Had he gambled everything and lost? Mana had been right, he really shouldn't have come after all.

That was the moment when every one of them started to hear a strange melody echoing through the streets. They soon realized that the sound had come from someone whistling to the melody of an old British folk song with the name of _A-hunting we will go_ , but as they were looking at each other in confusion, trying to identify the source of it, they also learned that it hadn't been someone among their ranks.

If it wasn't anyone of them whistling the song, someone else naturally had to be. However, this part of the city should have been pretty desolate and the possibility of some random guy taking a late afternoon stroll should have thus been rather slim. The Undertakers looked around vigilantly while Shu and Inori readied themselves for an ambush, expecting the newcomer to be Gai's trump card he had probably meant to play all along. Naturally they hadn't assumed Gai had come here alone.

And while they hadn't necessarily been wrong, they hadn't been completely right either. Yes, Gai and Mana had not come here alone, but neither had they brought allies. No, who had followed them here had been far worse than that.

Gai had realized this as well. He turned around into the direction he had come from with wide eyes, just in time to see a void arrow fly into his direction. And while his instincts had proved to be right, even though he had been in time to see the projectile darting straight at him, he had unfortunately also been too late to still dodge it.

The black arrow hit him in the upper torso, knocking him back a bit. But despite the fact that he had been knocked off his feet, he had still held on to Mana until the moment his back had hit the ground. Only then was he quick to release Mana and push her away from him slightly, because he had used the very same void once himself and was thus very familiar with its abilities. He wanted Mana nowhere near him as the arrow in his chest transformed into countless crystal vines which wrapped themselves around him immediately, completely immobilizing him in an instant.

Yet, despite his dire situation, not only had he remained conscious; he also hadn't hesitated to check Mana's wellbeing. Said queen was lying an arm length away from him and he could see her desperately trying to move, as was indicated by the frantic, little movements with her hands and fingers. However, it was obviously still impossible for her. And while he had luckily managed to save her from getting trapped together with him, they were still in a pretty bad situation. He had hoped the envoy would not follow them this quickly, but he supposed he had underestimated that bastard once again. Damnit all!

"Now, would you look at that." They could hear Yuu say casually as he stopped whistling his song and spotted the crowd. "If it isn't the former Adam and his queen. Good afternoon to you two. How fancy meeting each other here, huh? Were you going on a hunt as well?" He asked them with a carefree smile, holding his bow at his side as he slowly approached them. However, once he saw Ayase's Endlave aiming her gun at him, he decided he had come close enough. It didn't make him stop smiling, though.

Simultaneously, as soon as they had seen the envoy, the Undertakers had quickly taken the immobilized Gai and still paralyzed Mana and brought them back behind their crystal barrier. As they slowly retreated into safety, they took cover behind the crystals, aiming their weapons at the new enemy. They formed two rows, the first kneeling in front while the second one aimed while standing. Everyone with close range weapons retreated behind them and waited for further orders.

So now, Ayase was standing in front , with Shu and Inori taking their stances to each of her sides and their army providing backup from behind them. Everyone was on high alert.

"Hunt, you say?" The brunette king replied as he threw a look behind his shoulder where he knew Gai and Mana lied safely guarded by the Undertakers. His gaze then returned to the envoy. "Why would Da'ath hunt their Eve?"

Said man shrugged nonchalantly and sighed. "It's a long story. Anyway, I regret to inform you, but according to the hunting rules, I have caught the prey first, so unfortunately for you, this one's mine."

"I hardly think so." Shu said with a frown. "I don't know what this is all about, but there is just no way in hell we would hand over Mana to you."

Yuu couldn't help but laugh at that. "For you to finally realize the worth of Eve. I am happy, but it's too late now, I guess." He told him the last bit with another sigh.

"Because I am no longer Adam?"

"That, too, but don't worry about such little details. You will be Adam again in no time. It is Da'ath's wish after all."

"They want me to be Adam? Why? I thought they focused on Eve alone?"

They envoy scratched the back of his head slowly, as if trying to think how he could explain this to him in the best possible way.

"They had to in the past, yes. But lately they have thought focusing on Ouma Mana had been a mistake. After all, she had proven to be quite incompetent when it comes down to fulfilling her role. Even after four attempts, she has yet to succeed even once. That's why Da'ath has decided to shift their focus slightly."

"Why me, though?" Shu wanted to know angrily, having absolutely no desire to get tied with Da'ath even more than he already had been forced to.

"You?" He shook his head slowly and grinned, as if slightly amused. "You are mistaken. While you had been a great factor in making the decision of Da'ath changing plans, it will not be you who will become our new center of attention."

"Well, who else will it be, then?" The former Adam candidate asked the envoy slightly irritated. This didn't make much sense to him. Unlike the title of Adam, the possessor of Eve's title couldn't be simply changed. If neither Mana, nor him were the new focus, who else could it be? Gai? But that would have been even more ridiculous. If it had been Gai, there would not have been a reason to shift their backing in the first place now that Mana had chosen him anyway. Something was definitely fishy here. Why was it always so hard to understand what was going on in the heads of Da'ath?

When they saw the blond envoy looking at Inori with a meaningful expression, words were not even necessary to throw them all into a state of confusion.

"Me?" The pink haired vocalist asked in a surprised manner as she pointed at herself, followed by shaking her head slowly. "But I am not Eve…"

"True enough." Yuu replied with closed eyes, still smiling. "Not yet anyway."

"Ridiculous." Shu then said after recovering from his initial shock over such revelations. This must have been another one of the envoy's many schemes. He wouldn't allow himself to get caught in it. "Keido himself told me…"

He got interrupted by Yuu in an excited manner. "Keido? I was wondering where the man has ended up to be. I see now. He has chosen to abandon Da'ath and joined your side. Hmmm, no…perhaps it was the right choice all along. He must have seen what Da'ath has failed to notice until now. Yuzuriha Inori is the better Eve, so he went to her side even when it meant that he would have to risk getting punished by Da'ath. Such dedication. Impressive. And here I had thought of Shuichiro Keido to be another mere fool before. I was wrong." He rambled on while holding his forehead and shaking his head as if to say "My, my. I have done something foolish."

"How am I the better Eve?" Inori asked with hostility in her words. This didn't make any sense to her at all. Besides, she had no wish to become Eve in the first place. The mere thought of that sent goose bumps down her spine. "I have done nothing to warrant such thoughts."

"There were multiple factors that came together and caused us to reconsider the bearer of the title of Eve." Yuu chose to explain. "For one, you can hold your ground against the true Eve, despite lacking the actual title and the understanding of your powers that come along with it. This means you must have taught yourself how to use your powers, contrary to Eve who gained the knowledge simply by being Eve. That alone is already a huge indication of your talent. After all, if you are this powerful already, how much more could you improve if you were to become the true Eve, instead of remaining a mere fake?" He told them, but especially Inori, with a huge grin.

The queen only frowned at the words she had just heard. She wanted to deny them, but it had all been true. No one had ever told her how any of her powers really worked. The only one who really could have done so, had also been the one person who had wished for her death as long as she could remember. She had had no other choice but to learn it all herself during her time in the void realm. It was the only way for her to keep up and survive there. She had assumed Mana had done the same before, but according to Yuu, that hadn't been the case. Had she been different from Mana in terms of how they had acquired their powers?

"But that's not all. You, as well as Eve had both chosen Ouma Shu to be your respective Adam first. You may not know this, but being Eve's first choice is actually a huge privilege and shows the person's value. For him to have been chosen as a first candidate not only once, but twice, already speaks volumes of his potential. Naturally, he had already proven said potential by his outstanding talent to always prevail against all odds. So naturally, Da'ath has also realized that Ouma Shu is holding an important role in all of this. To respect this, it was decided that his wishes had to also be taken into consideration to a certain extent. Thus it became clear that if he really objected becoming his sister's Adam despite being her primary choice, that something must be fundamentally wrong with her, not him as Da'ath had previously assumed."

Shu didn't like where this was going. He casually put his left hand into the pocket of his coat, seemingly as if to protect it from the cold. However, in his pocket lied a crystal stone Inori had created earlier. As soon as he had touched it, Mana's angry voiced stormed his mind mercilessly, but that much had already been expected by him. He blocked out her voice immediately, having no time nor nerves to deal with it right now, and chose to speak with a certain brown haired friend of his instead.

" _Jun, you there?"_

" _Of course. Is something the matter?"_ Yahiro's little brother immediately replied with almost no delay at all. He, Yahiro, Hare and Tsugumi were back at the base, observing the situations through Ayase's field of vision. He also held on to a crystal at all time to remain in touch.

" _There were Genesis among the people we hid in the office building, right?"_

" _That's correct."_

" _Do they have an RPG with them?"_

There was a moment of silence, probably due to Jun having to ask his brother to make sure he wasn't relaying false information. Eventually, though, he confirmed Shu's assumption.

" _Contact them and tell them to shoot it at the enemy while he is still distracted with talking."_ The king ordered him. The younger man appeared to be troubled about this, however.

" _An RPG against that guy? Shu, isn't that going a bit overboard?"_

" _Just do it, Jun."_ Inori suddenly butted in on their conversation, using the crystal blades in her hands as a crystal connection, having recreated the one on her right hand. That, ultimately convinced the brunette man. He had no reason to doubt his orders if both, his king as well as his queen approved of it.

"… _Understood."_

While that happened, Shu had kept the conversation going.

"If you were going to consider my wishes, then you would just leave us the fuck alone. I have no intentions of becoming Adam again, nor do I wish for Inori to become Eve." He told the envoy. Inori nodded strongly to support his statement.

But the blond envoy just made a slow, soothing movement with his free hand, as if trying to calm him down. "Now there, is there really a reason to be so opposed to the idea? Shouldn't this be in your interest as well? Your sister gets freed from the harsh fate she just cannot seem to fulfill while you get to be the Adam of the queen you have chosen yourself. Isn't this what you rea-" His sentence got cut off halfway by the loud and sudden sound of something getting launched from one of the windows of the building to their left (Yuu's right).

The rocket quickly made its way towards the bowman, who just didn't seem to be worried at all after the initial surprise had left his face. Lifting his free, right hand simply, the speedy projectile gradually slowed down until it came to a halt right in front of him, suspended in midair. Everyone just looked at him in disbelief.

"Wow, what's this? Fireworks to celebrate the birth of a new Eve? So soon? You guys must really be looking forward to this, aren't you?" Yuu merely said to them with a smirk, followed by lifting his index finger lazily. "The course appears to be slightly off, though. Let me correct it for you." He drew a small and quick circle into the air and the floating rocket spun around by 180 degrees so that it was now facing into the direction of its former origin. As soon as that was done, he gave his hand a quick jolt and the suspended projectile immediately accelerated forward again.

The object flew right through the window it had been fired from and inevitably made contact with a wall inside the room, tearing it and a huge portion of the building apart with the help of the resulting explosion. Naturally, every person who had been near said explosion, namely the Undertakers that had hidden there, had stood little chance of surviving. There must have also been some sort of gas leak or something, since the explosion had also caused the building to burn hotter than thousand hells.

Everyone put down their arms they had raised to protect themselves from the blast and just looked at the now burning building in horror before returning their gazes to the envoy, who just kept admiring the flames with a satisfied expression.

"What magnificent firework." He said, almost mockingly. "It may have lacked beautiful effects, but instead lit the way for a glorious and bright future. The symbolism is truly heartwarming." Stroking his chin thoughtfully as he continued observing the flames, he didn't even seem to mind as one of the guys in the building jumped out of the window, yelling as loudly as he could while being engulfed in flames. The cries of pain subsided immediately once he reached the ground, apparently not having survived the fall.

"What ridiculous power…" Ayase mumbled in awe and looked at her Endlave's gun, wondering of the bullets from that thing would even be able to be of use if that cursed envoy could even redirect rockets…and all that without even using a void. This guy was definitely dangerous.

"Be careful, Ayase. Don't engage him recklessly." She could hear Shu warn her as he took the singer's sword in both hands, knowing that he would need all his strength against his opponent.

"Yeah, got it."

Meanwhile, the envoy continued to talk. "Anyway, as I was saying. Da'ath realized that Ouma Mana was an inferior Eve, despite the fact that only the most suitable individual should have become Eve in the first place. I came up with the theory that Mana once used to be the most suitable Eva candidate, until we created Yuzuriha Inori, who eventually ended up surpassing her. For that reason, Da'ath now tries to readjust things a bit. That's why I will take her back now."

"And you think we would simply let you?" Shu asked rather threateningly.

The envoy sighed again. "If only you had shown this much interest in Eve sooner…well, whatever. It appears we will have to perform the coronation ceremony here with you being so persistent. In that case, I suppose we should get this party started." He lifted his right hand and clicked with his fingers. Immediately, two girls next to him unveiled themselves by putting aside their stealth camouflage cloaks which had rendered them completely invisible until now.

They were pretty young, Shu thought, probably around 12 and 14 years old, sharing the same height, hair and eye color and had pretty much identical facial features, which led him to believe he was dealing with twins here. Once they proceeded to put their hands up to their chests to unleash their voids, it also became pretty obvious that they were Genesis, which should have made them Mananites. Or rather, now that they seemed to aid Yuu who was out to get rid of Mana, it was probably more accurate to call them rogue Mananites. Unfortunately for Shu and Inori, that didn't necessarily mean that they were allies.

Their voids turned out to be rather similar as well, with both of them revealing gloves once they pulled their hands back out of the glowing holes in their chests. The main difference had been that the girl to Yuu's right only wore one glove on her right hand and the other one did the same with her left hand. There didn't seem to be a matching one for both their other hands. It was actually the only way to really tell them apart since even their clothes were pretty much the same, with both of them wearing the same kind of dark blue winter jacket made of nylon with a hood adorned with fur. Since they were both wearing the hood, most of their hair remained hidden, but from the few strands of hair that still managed to be visible, one could at least tell that its color had been dirty blond. Their crystal blue eyes were narrowed down halfway as if bored or disinterested about what was actually going on around them. However, they seemed to at least be pretty cold, since they both had their faces buried as deeply into a thick, black scarf, as possible so maybe their expression could have been a result of their displeasure regarding their weather situation. As if to mock them, a harsh wind picked up and blew past them, further freezing them. And soon thereafter first snowflakes started to slowly descend from the sky. How unfortunate.

The two girls therefore only held out their gloved hands to their side and buried their ungloved one deep into their jacket's pocket. With their fur coated boots, they stepped forward and stretched out their hands to each of their respective sides. The right girl to the right side, with the left girl doing the same to the left. While Shu was wondering where these guys had even managed to get these matching and not exactly cheap looking clothes from in the first place, their grey gloves with bluish lines going along the sides of the fingers, started to have exactly these blue lines glow faintly, followed by creating a huge flash at the space directly in front of where their fingertips were pointing.

What appeared from the flash was some strange whirling mass of energy and silver threads which quickly continued to grow in size and shape until the vague outlines of a huge formation could be made out. Meanwhile it had never ceased to create noises which sounded like cracking of electricity and power surges. Once the object had reached what seemed to be its desired shape, the whirling mass stabilized and flashed up again. The eyes of the Undertakers needed a while but when the light eventually faded, two towering crystals had appeared to the girls' sides. And before they could even realize what this meant, more and more people started to emerge out of these giant crystals. Dozens of Genesis rallied up next and around Yuu.

Once Inori saw that, she quickly raised both her hands, each directed at one crystal, and started clenching them to fists as if smashing tomatoes. It looked like it needed a bit of effort from the way her hands tensed up during the act of crushing something invisible inside them, but the crystals still crumbled and fell apart eventually, killing everyone who had still lied in wait inside it and had not yet come out. However, by the time that had happened, most of them had probably already left the structure and joined up with the envoy.

"Of course, what would a party be without guests…" Yuu then said as he gestured with his hands at the newcomers around him.

Shu gritted his teeth angrily. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but he guessed the tall crystals had been prepared by Mana beforehand, during a time before she and Da'ath had decided to betray each other. Yuu must then have filled them with Mananites and used the twins' void to teleport them here somehow. Very troublesome. A rough estimation revealed that the enemy forces were slightly smaller than their own one was, but it was also made up entirely by Genesis. This was bad.

However, it was still within their expectations. After all, they had come here prepared to get ambushed by Gai and Mana. Only that it turned out to be Yuu who did the ambushing instead of the blond ex-king. It didn't change much in terms of their strategy, though.

"Ok guys, looks like it's time for Plan B." He told Ayase and Inori quietly.

He earned a "Got it." from Ayase in response. Inori, however, remained silent which slightly worried him. Looking over at her, he realized that she kept staring at the Mananites with eyes open wide from shock. She even took a step back from them, confusing her king even further.

"What's wrong, Inori?"

"Shu, these guys are…" She didn't get further than that. It was as if she was afraid of speaking it out aloud, or perhaps she was just too dumbfounded to see these people. Shu didn't really know. As he took a closer look at the Mananites, he could see some of them staring down at his queen evilly, but he couldn't make out anything strange about them other than that.

"Ah, I see. You seem to recognize these unfortunate people." Yuu spoke to Inori with a confident smirk on his lips. "When I ventured into the void realm to get Eve, I found various people like them being held prisoner by Eve's soldiers, getting tortured and treated rather badly. When I offered to take Eve and her followers back into civilization, I had also showed mercy on them and brought them along, despite the soldiers' objections. They turned out to be quite thankful about that and were also rather eager to come along once I told them I might have to face you and Ouma Shu again in battle. Are you happy to be reunited with them again?" He asked her nonchalantly, but got no reply from her as she appeared to be still speechless.

"What's wrong, my 'queen'?" One of the hostile Genesis suddenly said with an extremely rude sounding voice. "Not happy to see your old allies again after you left them in hell?"

"Hah, she looks as if she saw a ghost. Bet she thought she would never have to see us again." Another one added with spite.

"Turns out queens are all the same. Call them Mana, or Inori. In the end, they are all nothing but selfish monsters."

"Hear, hear! We are all better off without queens!"

"Death to the queen!" "Death to the queen!" They now all yelled in unison, all summoning their void weapons and raising them in rhythm as they demanded their queen's execution. Inori herself had a troubled expression as they kept roaring death threats at her.

That's when Shu finally understood what this was all about. The Genesis Yuu had brought here had not been Mananites, but people who had originally been affiliated with Inori in the void realm. They must have been the unlucky ones that had been stuck in the process of reviving and got left behind when he and Inori had made their escape, not being able to await their rebirth. However, they did either not know about the circumstances in which they were left behind or simply didn't care. What was certain, though, was that they felt betrayed by their queen. Well, it wasn't as if Shu didn't get their anger.

According to Yuu they had been tortured by Mananites upon their rebirth. Well, that much had probably been to be expected. With their queen and all their friends up and gone, they naturally couldn't hold their old camp anymore. When Mana had then revived, they had probably been overrun quickly by enemy forces and captured as prisoners of war. It wasn't all that hard to imagine how they must have been treated afterwards, really. At first, they had probably been beaten senseless as the Mananites attempted to squeeze out any information about Inori's whereabouts who had suddenly vanished off the realm in a miraculous way. Of course, none of them could have known where their queen had gone to since they had been dead during the time it had happened. They had probably wanted to know the very same thing the Mananites where torturing them for, which had made the matter even more ironical.

Afterwards, once it had become clear that the left behind soldiers didn't know anything, they were probably handled even worse than that, knowing the Mananites weren't exactly acting reserved when it came to things such as rape, torture, humiliation and killing. Their lives had probably been hell until Yuu had come around to stop the madness. Unfortunately, about that time that had happened, the damage had already been done and every single one among them must have wished for revenge against their former queen for doing that to them.

Not that Shu would let them, though. While their fate had been unfortunate indeed, it had simply been unavoidable. You couldn't always win in life. Sometimes you had to lose. There was probably no one else in the world who understood that more than him and Inori did. And if you asked him, he was under the impression that they had already done their fair share of losing. He wouldn't allow anyone to take any more from them from now on.

However, even though he had been ready to intervene, it wasn't him who eventually did, but instead one of the Genesis among the Undertakers. The woman in question had already aimed her crossbow void at one of the guys wishing for the queen's death and shot him with a laser arrow. Hitting its target right between the eyes, the unfortunate man simply fell down lifelessly in the middle of his chant.

"Traitorous scum! We won't forgive anyone who dares showing disrespect against the queen or the king!" She yelled, earning loud, agreeing cheers from her Genesis-comrades near her as they, too, raised their voids vigorously.

"Protect the queen's honor!"

"Kill the traitors!"

"For Inori!"

And soon after, the first shots were fired. Much to the confusion and displeasure of the humans among them.

"Hey, you can't just open fire on-" Some started to object but were interrupted by the enemy returning the fire at them. Suddenly the battle had started and they were forced to shoot back.

"Damnit!" They yelled as they took cover behind the crystal barricade and looked over at Shu, Inori and Ayase, who were in the middle of the line of fire. Ayase shielded them as they tried to run back into cover with Shu swinging his sword a couple of times into the direction of the enemy as he retreated into safety. The blade emitted long, sharp silver threads whenever Shu swung it which were even able to travel in wide arcs. Acting as an extension of his blade, they flew towards the enemies and cut the first unfortunate bunch unlucky enough to stand in their way.

"Everyone, proceed with plan B! Do as you were previously instructed!" He yelled into the Undertakers' direction.

As soon as they had heard that, their faces started to show off confidence and determination. The human veterans entered a state of calmness despite the hectic situation they found themselves in and the Genesis as well started to calm down and act as one instead of blindly shooting at the enemy in rage like they had done until just now.

"You heard the man! Provide cover fire until he and Inori are back and safe!"

"Hostile melee fighters are advancing towards our position, take them out!"

"Close range fighters, get ready to switch with long range fighters!"

Orders were shouted around and while it looked like chaos had broken out among their ranks, every one of them did their job fluently and efficiently. Despite having differences, the Genesis and humans showed good discipline and performed excellently together. The Undertaker veterans and Genesis who had been in combat or war for so long had learned to put aside everything not related to the battle a long time ago, knowing that not fully concentrating at times like these would only get them killed. Some of the newbies tended to screw up every once in a while, but whenever that happened, a veteran or Genesis was nearby to make up for the mistake. It was the sort of teamwork one would only see with experienced soldiers.

However, the enemy wasn't just dumb Mananites this time, either, but former allies instead. The difference became quite clear when the Undertakers saw the enemy advance while sending in people with big shields, body armors and similar defensive voids in the first row and then the lesser defended melee types in the second row. All while the long range fighters kept supporting them from behind. It had been a tactic Inori's soldiers had used many times in the past and would end up causing a lot of trouble to them if they wouldn't find a way to counter it.

For that reason, the first two rows of long range fighters kept providing Shu and Inori with cover fire while also preparing to switch places with the close range soldiers behind them. As soon as the enemy would advance too closely to their position, they would switch around and have the melee-oriented soldiers combat the approaching enemies, while the rest would fall back and continue supporting them from further back.

Meanwhile, Inori had launched herself back behind the barrier by using the momentum of a crystal she had made shoot out of the ground rapidly. Shu followed her soon afterwards by using the singer's sword ability to create stepping stones in midair to swiftly appear at her side. Now back behind cover, they finally turned around to Ayase, who had kept protecting them from enemy projectiles with her big and sturdy crystal-reinforced Endlave.

"We made it, Ayase! Fall back!" Inori informed her the moment she had confirmed Shu was with her.

"Roger that! See you later!" They heard the brunette woman confirm over her speakers, followed by her jumping over the fence surrounding the still burning office building and driving off into the opposite direction of the enemy with high speed.

"They are retreating! Don't let them escape! Push harder!" They could hear one of their enemies yell, followed by the armored first line of enemies picking up speed. Their shields and armors absorbed most of the projectiles the Undertaker firing squad shot at them, which is why Shu told them to cease fire and fall back, while the melee-types took their place.

"Now, Inori!" The brunette king yelled into his queen's direction over the noise of battle while sending off more silver thread blades at the still approaching enemy.

Said queen looked at her former vassals first, followed by looking down on her own hands. Somehow, this was all her fault. It was understandable that they would feel betrayed. After all, they had fought for her, protected her and believed in her for many years only for her to leave the void without them in the end. But it's not like she had wanted things to end this way. She had wished they would all leave that place and return home together happily. Now, they were all back, but not in the way she had envisioned. This was all wrong. It shouldn't have come to this.

If only she could explain it to them. Neither she nor Shu had desired this outcome, but she knew they would not listen to her anymore at this point. She had seen this happen many times already in the past. Their hearts were filled with hatred and rage for her which blinded them, preventing them to see things with reason…how they really were. There was no way to save them without someone getting hurt.

And if someone had to get hurt, it was better to not be the ones who still believed in her. Shu and the Undertakers...she would protect them all.

"I am sorry…" She whispered quietly as she stood up, ignoring that she left the cover of the crystal spikes in front of her. While doing so, the last fragments of sadness left her face and got replaced by determination. Lifting her right hand to the leftmost crystal of the barricade, she proceeded to draw a straight line from the first crystal on the left to the very last crystal on the right. It was a swift, clean motion and her hand had only pointed at each crystal for a mere split second, yet that had been all it took.

As soon as the crystals had registered the movement of the queen, they began launching themselves forward into the direction they had been pointed at, namely the enemy. One after another, starting from the one Inori had been pointing at first, the trunk sized spikes were shot forward in quick succession and with little delay between each other. Traveling in a small arc, they were fast like rockets, but behaved more like spears as they crashed headfirst into the enemy formations and pierced even the sturdy shields of the defensive first row.

Cries of agony filled the streets as more and more soldiers got impaled and crushed brutally. However, it was not enough to stop their advance. After the last crystal had fallen, the hostile forces reassumed their formation and continued to advance. Impressive determination.

Meanwhile, Da'ath's envoy had retreated to the back rows where he aimed his bow high into the air. Multiple arrows appeared in his right hand which were all shot in a high arc at the same time soon after. The projectiles started glowing in a purple light and appeared to turn into energy midflight, but that wasn't even the main problem. No, what really made this whole ordeal troublesome was how the energy-arrows each continued to split into two new ones, which then split again…and again. Three, six, twelve, twenty-four,…the sky was filled with glowing arrows in no time and they all started to rain down on the Undertakers.

"Do not falter! I can protect us!" Shu yelled to prevent panic. In his void arm, the Singer's sword he had held until now slightly transformed after getting combined with the voids of Yahiro, Ayase, Tsugumi and Argo which had also rested in his own void arm. The blade part of the sword vanished and instead started to change its shape into something new. The void grew bulkier as a whole and its tip started to look like the end of a turbine.

Shu grimaced as he now had to support the heavy construct with his other arm as if holding a minigun in order to aim it at the incoming danger. As soon as the strange weapon was in position, the turbine part started spinning and various lines on the outer hull of the void started glowing, seemingly transmitting energy to the void's spinning end. Small light particles appeared all around it, getting slowly sucked up into the turbine the faster it started to spin. And while it did so, it also started to emit a loud noise which reminded everyone of a starting jet.

Then, only a few seconds before the envoy's attack was about to hit them, the king unleashed a powerful beam out of the strange photon cannon of his with so much force, that the recoil nearly let him lose his balance. The beam itself was the strangest thing to behold. It looked like light, but was pitch black. This abnormal black light spread out all around them and absorbed all light sources in the vicinity. First the energy arrows started to fade into the dark beam, then the fire of the burning building next to them got completely sucked up by it. One by one, every light vanished into it, until even the light rays emitted by the sun failed to reach them anymore. Everyone just stood in complete darkness, unable to see anything anymore.

If one were to look at the area from far away, they would see a huge, dark blob where the fight was taking place right now. One would first assume a big, black object had appeared out of nowhere, but that was not the case. It was just that every light that traveled through the area was completely absorbed by the abnormal 'anti-light' Shu had unleashed, as impossible as that actually sounded.

But that was only the case for a few seconds. Their vision returned when the dark light started to gather into a small sphere above them. Shrinking and shrinking until it became as small as a mere basketball, the pitch black sphere continued to float in the air, getting admired by everyone present. Enemies as well as allies alike. But could you blame them? Anyone would just stand and stare at something so bizarre. It wasn't something you would see every day, even for Genesis standards who were plenty familiar with voids at this point.

"Avert your eyes! Quickly!" The king's warning however, threw them back into reality. He released the heavy void, ran up to Inori and made her shield her eyes while turning away from the strange phenomenon himself. The Undertakers followed his example. Most of the enemies chose to trust their gut instinct and turned away as well, after they saw the sphere starting to emit a couple sparks as if growing unstable. The few who didn't were in for a painful surprise as the strange, black thing exploded in midair, shining brightly in the intensity of all the light it had absorbed at once. It was so bright, that it completely destroyed their eyesight through over stimulation, dooming them to never see any light again. Having experienced the pain of becoming blind firsthand, the king almost felt bad for the fools who were now yelling and attempting to cover their eyes in vain.

"It's not over! Brace for impact!" He continued to instruct his allies and knelt on the ground, holding Inori tightly. The Undertaker, still shielding their eyes, confusedly tried to hold on to something. Moments after, the blast of the explosion reached them and knocked a few of them over, but luckily, most of them were able to handle the pressure. Most Genesis also helped securing their human allies by using their additional strength to keep them from being blown away.

When things had at long last settled down, they finally allowed themselves to open their eyes again. Confirming their surroundings, the Undertakers were filled with relief once they saw that they were mostly alright. A couple of them had been hit by the blast and were now injured, but the majority of them had remained unharmed. The first cheers were heard with more and more of them joining in.

Shu also checked up on Inori who was still shielded in his arms.

"Are you okay, Inori?" He asked with worry in his voice, which ended up being unnecessary as she immediately blessed him with the sight of a small smile and a nod.

"I am fine, Shu."

He embraced her in relief and let out a sigh. "Thank goodness."

On the enemy side, Yuu put down his arm he had used to shield his eyes with. Looking around, he saw a few people yelling in pain and walking or crawling around blindly. A considerable amount of them were also lying on the floor dead, either killed by the crystal attack earlier or by getting blast away by the explosion and hitting something hard unfavorably. He saw all that, but contrary to the horrifying image, he chose to smile in amazement.

"Impressive." He admitted while getting up and cleaning his coat from dust by gently hitting it a few times. "Showing usage of voids like a true king. As expected of the primary Adam candidate." He praised Shu proudly.

"Praising the enemy like that…just whose side are you on anyway?" One of his soldiers said after coughing and getting up as well.

"Why, Da'ath's side of course. And Da'ath always sides with progress." He answered him patiently.

"That's not really an answer, you know…?" The soldier grumbled disapprovingly.

"Well, then answer me this. Are you intending to continue the fight or are you giving up on your revenge?"

The man in front of him growled at him angrily. "We will not rest until we are free of queens and their kings. Human life should not stand at the mercy of such monsters."

The envoy merely shrugged at that. "I disagree, but that is of no importance. So go on, then. Show me your determination. Perhaps you will succeed in convincing me that kings and queens are indeed obsolete in the new world."

"Pah. Watch us. We will free ourselves or die trying." The man said as he headed back into the fray.

Yuu couldn't help but chuckle at the soldier's foolishness. Wanting to free himself of queens and kings? What idiocy it truly was. Nothing but nonsense spewed by ignorant people. There was no such thing as a world without kings and queens in the future. That's not how the system worked. Ever since the day the meteorite containing the apocalypse virus fell onto the earth, the destiny of the human race had already been decided. There would always be an Eve, no matter how often you decided to kill her. And as long as there would be Eve, there would always be an Adam. Sooner or later, the apocalypse was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.

The foolish struggle of these men and women around him was nothing but a futile attempt to change things which couldn't be changed. Nothing but wasted effort. And thus, it didn't matter to him if they lived or died this day. Let nature give them their deserved fate. Anyone who was unable to adapt themselves to the world would be selected out. That was how it had always been and always would be. A just system which no one could ever change.

It's not like he hadn't tried to educate them. To teach them how they were wrong. But they had refused to listen. They had claimed it was him who was actually wrong. And while he knew better, he still chose to watch them try convincing him. After all, who was he to deny them their freedom of choice? If they so choose to throw their lives away meaninglessly, he would let them. For even though their struggle was the embodiment of vanity, their actions could still serve as an example for future generations. For that reason, he would watch them closely and remember everything to his best ability. Eventually, when the new world would finally come, he would write stories about this day. Stories that would tell the children of tomorrow about the foolishness of their predecessors.

As if to proof their stupidity, he saw them charging at Shu's and Inori's forces with voids at hand. Everyone still capable of fighting had apparently chosen to strike while the enemies were still trying to rearrange their formations. An action Yuu could only meet with a disappointed sigh and a slow shake of his head. Looking to his left at the shipyard, he already knew what would be coming next.

It was all too obvious that the Undertakers in front of them were acting vulnerable on purpose to draw them in. If they would have remained calm for a second to think, they would have realized it was all a feint to begin with. After all, there had already been enemies hidden in the building to their right, so why in all heavens would they assume the terrorists wouldn't have done the same to their other flank?

True enough, as soon as the Undertaker's forces and the traitors clashed, a new squad of enemies revealed themselves coming from the countless manufacturing halls they had hid themselves in quietly. Led by a man with a strange mix of blond dyed hair in the center and brown hair on each of his head's sides, they rushed out quickly and proceeded to mow down their enemies with heavy gunfire on their unprotected flank. Yuu recognized the man as one of Shu's vassals he had met briefly 5 years ago when the king had attempted to rescue Inori Yuzuriha, but never really got around to catch his name. Not that it really mattered anyway.

With this, the fight was probably already decided. Getting attacked from the front and one side at the same time should eventually wear down the rebel forces in the end. Especially since they were up against a queen and a king simultaneously. Even if he were to help them now, they would still not stand a chance, but he had to still get his hands on Ouma Mana somehow, so he gathered the voids of the injured soldiers around him who had still not died yet. Perhaps he could get something useful out of them if he were to combine them. Anything would do as long as it would prolong the battle for just a while longer.

That's when he heard the sound of something loud approach him from behind. Turning around in curiosity, he saw the Endlave from before coming at him with high speed. At that point, he couldn't suppress a laugh. So that's how it was. The Endlave had retreated temporarily to go and find a way to sneak around them, probably by making a quick detour. It was meant to ambush them from behind to open even a third front against the enemy. If that Endlave was to get past him, the rebel Genesis behind him would meet their demise in no time.

"We can't have you do that now, can we?" The blond man said amusedly as he finished gathering the voids. He couldn't allow the fools behind him to die too quickly, since he was still in need of the distraction they were currently providing. At least for a little while, he needed to share the Endlave pilot's company.

"It can't be helped. I will be your opponent this time."


	13. Black Widow

**13\. Black Widow**

Mana hated this.

She definitely hated this.

She and Gai still lied on the ground where they had previously been dumped on by Shu and Inori's retarded henchmen. Just behind the lines of Undertakers currently participating in some stupid fight she couldn't even see from her current position.

Like potato sacks they were forced to remain there, unable to move themselves since Gai was still trapped in crystal vines the envoy's void had caused to wrap around him. And Mana…? Well, she was definitely getting better steadily, but she was still far from regaining control over her body completely and so there had been nothing she could do to resolve their current situation.

To be this helpless. This weak…it was the worst. It aggravated her. At this point, there were many things that made her downright furious.

First off, there was that cursed envoy, who had dared to not only deny Gai the void genome, he had also had had the nerve to poison her which was the main reason they had been stuck in this detestable situation in the first place.

Then there were these insolent little pieces of trash who had thought they would get away siding with that darn envoy instead of aiding her and her beloved Gai in their fight against him. Oh, how she would make sure to pay back their shameless betrayal the moment she would regain the control over her own muscles again. She believed a bit of reeducation was in need here.

Speaking of education, she would definitely have to have a few words with that rebellious little brother of hers and that stupid doll he so adored. Just who the hell did they think they were rejecting their generous offer? Did they even realize how much she had had to force herself to even consider allowing them to coexist with her and Gai in the new world they would bring? After all they had made her go through, it would have not at all been weird for her to demand their execution. And yet, there she had been, offering them amnesty, only to get spit in the face like that.

Well, fine then. If Shu did not want them all to live peacefully together, she would just make him live all alone in the dungeon of her castle. Since the doll he was so fond of seemed to have a bad influence on him, she would have to discard her, but that shouldn't be a problem, right? After all, dolls could always be made anew. She would just have to make him a new, beautiful crystal doll to share his company in that dark cell in the dungeon she would prepare for him.

Surely he wouldn't mind that much. After all, a doll was a doll in the end, right? And at least a crystal doll would never fill his mind with useless words. Sure, it wouldn't be able to move, either, but it would also never get old and ugly. A perfect replacement, she thought. He shouldn't have any rights to complain.

She could see Gai struggling to break free from his bonds, so she put all her effort into crawling to him awkwardly, hoping that she could somehow assist him, even if just a little. She also attempted to talk to him via crystals, but he didn't seem to share a connection with one right now. Even though he was bound by crystal-like vines, they hadn't been made by a queen, so apparently those didn't count…or perhaps it was the void's effect to disallow communications through them. She wouldn't really know without studying them closer and there wasn't any time for that. It didn't work and that was all there was to know to it for now.

"Don't worry, Mana. We will get out of here in no time. We will just have to make sure they won't notice us sneaking away while they are busy fighting Yuu." He whispered to her quietly. She wished she could reply, but if she were to try, she would only sound like a mentally retarded person…completely unable to utter understandable words. Not very lady-like, if you asked her, so she chose to refrain from doing that.

At one point during their struggles their vision had gone completely dark for a very short while, causing them to wonder what the cause for that might have been. A loud explosion had followed afterwards, which had sent them off flying further away from the Undertakers, with them not realizing due to them being somewhat preoccupied with fighting an enemy army.

That had been their chance. If Gai would succeed in freeing himself, they could secretly…

Then, suddenly, an old, well-known face dared to show itself in front of them from out of nowhere. A brunette haired man with glasses put away his stealth cloak and proceeded to gag Gai, so that he couldn't make any noise, followed by doing the same to Mana to be sure. He then proceeded to haul the true Eve on his shoulder while dragging Gai behind him as he made his way into the deserted shipyard. He did it so quickly and silently, none of the Undertakers ever felt the need to turn around to take notice of him

He had already known of the ambush Shu and Inori had prepared further ahead, having seen it as he had passed through the shipyard in order to sneak around their main army. They hadn't noticed him back then due to the invisibility, though they had still looked as if they had been on high alert, so he hadn't risked detection by getting too close. The camouflage of the invisibility cloak wasn't perfect and could be detected the closer you were to someone wearing it. So, he had taken a small detour around them and had ended up reaching the rear of the Undertaker army a bit later than he had previously assumed. However, it had paid off, seeing as they got blasted away by the explosion caused by Shu, which had eventually made kidnapping them easier.

So, knowing the whereabouts of Argo's troops, the kidnapper avoided them by choosing a warehouse that had been far enough away from the Undertakers as a temporary hideout. In there he threw both Mana and Gai on the ground in front of him and smirked at them evilly.

"You bastards are quite heavy, did you know that?"

Gai returned the glare with one of his own. Since he was still gagged, he couldn't respond. A minor problem the brunette man intended to fix immediately. Removing the cloth, he allowed Gai to speak.

"It's not too late to avoid making a grave mistake here, Nanba."

Mana disagreed in her mind. Oh, no. It was plenty late for this man to seek forgiveness. He was actually as good as dead already. Now if only her body would heed her will again…

Nanba for his part only chuckled at that. "Yeah, sure. You really think I would back out now that I have done this much? I would be a dead man as soon as the poison in Mana's body wears off."

Mana frowned. Well, at least he was aware of that much.

He continued talking with a shrug. "I actually really like living, so I will have to decline, thank you. Besides…I've been waiting for this moment for a looooong time now." They could hear him say as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation of what he would soon do.

"Think about your situation, you fool! Do you think Da'ath will treat you any better? You are worth even less to them than you were to us. They will discard you as soon as you stop having a use for them." Gai told him angrily.

"Oh, I know that well enough. But I am not joining them forever, either. You should know me better than that, Gai. I always fight for the side that allows me to get the most out of something. At a time, it was Shu's. Afterwards, it was Arisa's. Later, it became yours and currently it's Yuu's. But you know what? I am pretty sure I am going to eventually betray that guy as well. I do not know when and how, but I know it will be because I would gain more from someone else. Currently, however, there are no such plans, because what he wants and what I want stand in perfect harmony with each other."

Gai shocked them all by laughing loudly at the kidnapper's words.

"Betray Yuu, you say. Do you not see the irony in that?"

The brunette man readjusted his glasses and looked at the ex-king confusedly.

"What do you mean?"

"Just who do you think you are talking to right now? I attempted to betray Yuu and look where I am now. I am willing to take any bet that the next one to be in my shoes will be you. And then you will most likely be the one to choke on your own words." Gai told him while laughing some more. That earned him an angry fist to the face.

"Shut up. I am nothing like you. I will never end like you."

"Heh, you are right about one thing, Nanba. You are nothing like me. But ending like this? Trust me, the moment you become affiliated with Da'ath, the only way to ever get out again is in a coffin. That I assure you."

"Huh, maybe I will actually like it in Da'ath, you ever thought about that? So far, they have been the best employers I have been working for."

"Yeah, and that's been like, what? A day? Two? They always get their followers in the cheap way, luring them in with power, wealth or other stuff they might like. And what comes after that? Human experimentation and exploitation. If you are lucky you end up in a good spot, but if you don't you will just end up as another lab rat. Been there, done that. Boy, I sure don't envy you for your position." Gai told him with another mocking grin. But Nanba only hit him again, smirking.

"I know exactly what you are trying to do here, Gai. Let me just tell you it won't work. I am not one of your naïve terrorists or those stupid Mananites who would believe every word you said. Your lies about leading them to a better future? That everything would become better as soon as Inori would die in the void realm? And now, too, when you try to win me back over from Da'ath. You just say whatever the fuck you want others to believe. You must really think you are so damn smart, aren't you?"

"At least I am not a complete tool like you. You will never be anything but a pawn, Nanba." Gai spit out some blood and smirked at him again.

"Maybe." Nanba agreed with a serious expression. "But at least I am a pawn who knows his place. You are just someone who tries to regain what he has lost. Once you were a king, but only a long time ago. How long has it been now that you have tried regaining that title, huh? 5 years? And you still believe you could get it back? Don't make me laugh. You will always just be the guy who failed to become king. And don't you think that's even more pitiful? My friends and I had always just been pawns, but you were a pawn that made it to a king and managed to lose it all again. Unlike us, you had had your chance and you blew it. How much of a failure do you need to be to ruin it that badly? You of all people have no right to complain about your fate." He kicked him in the stomach a few times until he thought he heard a rip break.

Mana's eyes burned with rage and hatred as she was forced to witness all of this with no power to stop it.

Nanba saw her moving slightly into his direction. It was nothing more than a pitiful attempt at crawling. It looked so pathetic, that he couldn't even bring himself to kick her back into her place. He didn't feel like he needed to humiliate her more than she already did herself. After all, how ridiculous must it be for a queen such as Mana to be crawling on the filthy ground like a pitiful insect? He looked down on her with a mischievous grin, followed by returning his attention back to Gai.

"Hah, just look at your beloved queen now. She can't save you anymore, huh? Heck, she can't even protect herself. What a joke." He told him in ridicule as he put his boot on Mana's face cockily.

" _I will tear this guy to shreds. I really will!"_ Mana yelled in her mind.

"You know what's really funny?" Gai then answered after a short groan. "It's this ridiculous way of you trying to show dominance. You think this will impress either of us? How about you take these things off me and we see who really has the upper hand here?" He said while staring down Nanba harshly.

The brunette man stepped away from Mana and crouched next to Gai instead, locking eyes with him confidently.

"Would really love to, but I am afraid there is no time. There was actually so much more I wanted to do to you to make your last moments as miserable as possible. Including taking that dumb bitch you call your queen for a quick ride right in front of your eyes." He gestured into Mana's direction by nudging his head her way. "But if I were to do that, that Ouma idiot might finally realize that I stole you two right from under his nose and come looking for you. That would really suck, you know? So I will have to keep this brief and simply kill you without all the bonus stuff I usually do to guys I hate. Consider yourself lucky."

The blond man closed his eyes in defeat and smirked. "Bloody coward…"

Nanba ignored the remark and drew his void out instead, putting on that metal glove which could form energy claws á la Wolverine. The purplish claws shone eerily in the dimly lit warehouse. Their reflection in the brunette man's glasses made him appear like the devil himself.

"So, Gai. How would you like your death? I could consider making it a bit quicker and a tiny bit less painful if you start begging for your life a little."

"Bite me." Was all Gai said in response. Not the tiniest bit of fear was present on his face. Only anger and determination. Whatever were to happen to him, he would take it like a man.

A sinister smirk appeared on the kidnapper's face as he slowly retracted the blades of his glove, ensuring it would take longer to kill his victim that way. Sure, it would take more time, but in return, that also meant he would be able to enjoy himself for a while longer.

"I had hoped you would say that."

What followed after that was nothing short of brutal. Nanba went over to Gai and proceeded to beat him in the face repeatedly in quick succession. For a time, Gai's groans were heard echoing through the warehouse along with the sounds of metal hitting flesh until the groans started to grow more and more quiet, leaving only the grotesque sounds of punches lingering around them. With time, Nanba's rough breathing was added into the mix, which were a clear indicator how much effort he put into it and thus tired himself out. But despite that fact, his blows never became any weaker. He continued to hit Gai relentlessly, like a frenzied beast.

Mana could do little more than lie next to them and watch the horrifying scene unfold in front of her. Her anger was soon to get replaced with worry the longer she had had to watch Nanba continuing to strike Gai.

" _No…stop it! I said stop! Don't do this!"_ She yelled in her mind, yet her mouth could not produce any sound, still being gagged. Not that she would have been able to form words anyway. She tried forming crystals in her hand, but nothing except small, deformed crumbs sprouted around her, falling apart as soon as they were formed. The poison prevented her from concentrating enough to make her crystals stable and useful. Nothing she did was helpful.

Gai's blood started to get splashed around, with some droplets hitting her face directly. This caused tears starting to form in her eyes once she realized her powerlessness once again. She couldn't even beg Nanba to stop in a way he would be able to hear her. At this rate, Gai would really die right in front of her.

" _Please…someone…anyone…stop this. Don't let Triton die! Please! Help him!"_ She called out to everyone around her via crystals. At this point, she didn't even care anymore who it would end up to be that would come to their aid. Shu, Yuu…even Inori would be fine, as long as someone would come in the end. But her pleas remained unanswered. No one responded to her calls.

 _Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud._ The unwavering sound of Nanba's beatings never ceased to haunt her ears. It was about to drive her nuts.

" _I AM BEGGING YOU!"_ She practically yelled in her thoughts, tears now streaming down her eyes endlessly.

And to her surprise, after a while the beating really ceased, though, unfortunately, not for the reason she had wished for it to end. The second Nanba rose over Gai triumphantly with his still blood-dripping glove and clothes, Mana also stopped receiving the feelings of love and affection Gai had radiated ever since she had made him Adam. In their place, the cold, familiar feeling of nothingness greeted her once again. Where there had once been warm feelings of being wanted, appreciated and cherished deeply, there was simply nothing anymore. It was as if you had been watching a beautiful movie full of emotions and love on TV with the screen suddenly turning blank with a big "NO SIGNAL" showing up on the screen, leaving you with absolutely nothing but an agonizing high-pitched buzzing sound. She immediately understood that this could only mean one thing.

As the last bit of her remaining power left her body, an unpleasant emptiness started to spread inside her. It devoured her heart and soul until even the look in her eyes became lifeless.

" _Triton…"_

"Phew, that was quite the nice work-out there." Nanba said as he caught his breath and wiped away some of the sweat that had appeared on his forehead. "And I even managed to make that ugly face of yours look so much better, too." He mockingly added as he spit on the blond man's corpse. "No need to thank me."

Seeing and hearing that, something inside the broken girl snapped. Into her empty eyes, something returned. But it wasn't the normal, healthy look of a sane person. It was a glowing red color of killer intend. This detestable sorry excuse of a man in front of her had crossed a line no one should ever have crossed.

Murderer! King slayer! Traitor! She would make him pay for what he had done to Gai. What he had dared doing to her. He had taken her happiness. She would take his. And much more than just that. But she couldn't move still. She needed to move, though. She needed to kill him. Destroy him. Vanquish him.

Her dark desire to have her revenge caused black, metallic crystals to shroud themselves around her lower body. They grew bigger with six legs forming themselves, three at each of her sides. It looked like the lower half of a spider, with Mana's upper body taking up the upper half. Yes. This would work. If she couldn't move her body, she would move the crystals in its stead.

However, the transformation was still incomplete. She could use the crystals as substitute legs, but she still needed some means to attack. To kill. For that reason, her arms were engulfed by the same dark crystals as well, forming long and sharp scythe like blades on each of her arms.

Before, her mind had been in disarray, but now her head was clear. The emptiness inside her had made it possible. Now, she knew exactly what she wanted. And what she wanted was blood. Like this, she could control these crystals just fine.

"I don't have anything anymore…" A creepy, slightly distorted version of her voice could be heard coming from the crystals attached to her body. Her mouth didn't move, but for every syllable she thought, her black, crystalline body would flash up in an ominous red briefly. She was using them to speak in place for the mouth she could still not use.

This finally caused Nanba to turn around, only to stumble back in shock the moment he had seen her.

"What in the name of…?" He mumbled out of surprise while continuing to widen the distance between him and that…thing.

"…since I don't have anything anymore, everything can just be lost." Mana continued to say, slowly following Nanba like a predator cornering its prey. "Let me finish it off. Everything. Let me make it all empty."

Nanba reached a wall, unable to retread any further. Instead, he franticly looked around, trying to find a way out. All while Mana continued to close the gap. He gulped. This definitely didn't look good.

"I don't need anything like a new world anymore…let there be nothing."

She struck.

-GC-

The battle against Inori's former soldiers was raging on when all of a sudden a loud crashing noise could be heard in the vicinity. It had sounded as if somewhere near them a wall had been destroyed, causing a building to collapse. The Undertakers in the rear had been the only ones who didn't stand in immediate danger of getting killed if they averted their attention temporarily from the battle and thus allowed themselves to turn around to the source of the disturbance.

"The hell was that?" One of them said. That was also when he noticed that Gai and Mana had been gone. "Shit, where did Mana go?" He suddenly yelled, catching the attention of other Undertakers around him.

"She's gone?" They asked disbelievingly.

"Damnit! When did that happen?"

"We were supposed to have an eye on that girl and Gai. If they escaped…"

"We have to tell Shu and Inori…"

"Fuck that, we need to find those two before they notice that we screwed up…"

"I think we got different problems right now. There is a military patrol heading our way, probably having gotten attracted by the sounds of battle…" One of them pointed into the distance where they could all see multiple vehicles heading their way.

"Shit, you are right. Now we really have to tell the king and the queen…"

"Oh, fuck. Are you guys seeing that? What the hell is that?" Another one pointed towards the shipyard were they saw a giant spider like creature running towards the street they were fighting on.

"Tell Shu and Inori! Tell them now!" Someone insisted, following by another one forcing his way forward past the ranks of allied soldiers to reach the king and queen who were fighting further ahead.

Meanwhile the spider-thing had reached the street. It was only now that they saw that it was actually chasing something. A loud, creepy voice could be heard, apparently coming from the black spider.

"How rude of you to run from a lady! Weren't you bragging just now about how you were going to take me in front of Triton? Why won't you come to me? Let me _embrace_ you!" The monster said darkly between swings of its scythe-like arms, missing its prey only by a hair. This creature was like something taken straight out of a nightmare.

The man who was running away from it pressed his right hand on his left shoulder tightly while attempting to dodge and flee from the creature's attacks as quickly as he could. He must have gotten hurt by it previously or so it seemed. In his desperation to escape, he ran up to the approaching military convoy which noticed the monster following him and came to an immediate halt.

"What in god's name…?"

"A-a monster!"

"Open fire!"

The soldiers pointed their rifles at the strange, black creature and one of them even manned the gun mounted on top of one of the Humvees, but the bullets they fired just bounced off of its metallic body, completely unaffected by them. The bullets aimed at the humanoid upper body of the monster were all deflected by the big blades which the woman held in front of her protectively.

"You're in the way!" The voice yelled again, and the pink haired woman lunged out with one of the blades to strike them down. With a swift motion, she cut through flesh and metal alike, knocking away one of the Humvees as if it was nothing. The vehicle overturned multiple times before it finally hit a wall and thus came to a halt, completely wrecked at that point. It was needless to say that the gunner on top had been nothing more than a bloody mess at that point.

The moment she saw more of them come at her from the direction the first vehicle had come from, she turned towards them and emitted a strange sounding tune. The strange melody caused a spike of genomic resonance and made the dormant apocalypse virus inside their bodies awaken. From one moment to the next, they simply turned into bizarre crystal statues, going straight from stage 0 to the terminal stage of the virus infection. Some even turned to crystals so fast that they died mid-run without losing momentum and shattering on the ground the moment their bodies fell over and made contact with it. How horrifying.

An Endlave attempted to combat the creature by approaching it from a blind spot, but the arachnid simply pierced the metal giant with both its blades, lifted it up and hurled it away with no effort at all. Crashing into a wall, the war machine did not get the chance to get up again as the building the wall had originally supported collapsed on top of it, burying it under tons of concrete.

Once the bothersome nuisance had been dealt with, the spider appeared to look around, only to realize that the man from before had used the distraction to slip away, probably with the help of the stealth cloak he had appeared with in the first place. Letting out a frustrated roar, the monster then noticed the Undertakers staring at it.

"Please don't come this way, please don't come this way, please don't come this way…" One of them started to pray quietly to himself.

It was all in vain, however. The creature started to run into their direction with no hesitation at all.

"Shit!"

"We need to do something!"

"But that thing's bullet proof! Have you not seen how easily it finished off the military?"

While the soldiers were franticly looking for way to combat that strange creature, each of its fast and heavy steps with its weird spider legs started to make the ground shake a bit the closer it came. Fortunately, before it could reach them, explosions started occurring around the beast. As it attempted to cover the humanoid upper body to protect it from harm, the remaining crystal body got slowly torn apart, causing the soldiers to cheer in relief.

"We are saved!"

"Look! It's the guys with flying voids! Thank god!" One of the Undertakers yelled out and pointed up into the air, where Jimmy, Juan and a bunch of flying Genesis started to engage Mana.

"They were supposed to cause a diversion in the north of the city to draw the SDF further away from us. I wonder why they came back?"

"Who cares? We are saved!"

"Idiot! Focus! The battle isn't over yet!" One of the veterans scolded the newbie who had just spoken only to let them all come to the horrible realization that he was right. The beast's assault may have been temporarily halted, but they could all see how the shattered crystals that made up its lower body started to regrow. And that quicker than the air squad could possibly destroy them. That bloody thing was immortal!

"Don't waste your time with the crystals! Shoot Mana!" They could hear Jimmy yell loudly while attempting to get a clear shot on the girl himself.

"It's impossible! She's shielding herself pretty damn good with her crystals! Those things are tough as hell to break and they keep growing back!" Another one with some kind of rocket boots replied to him. He was busy throwing grenades from mid-air.

"Don't give up! At least hold out until Inori and Shu notice what's going on!" Juan tried to encourage his allies to press on. If they pulled back now, the enraged Mana would surely tear through the army of Undertakers before her in no time at all. They did not know what had happened here for things to turn out like this, but they had to prevent that at all cost.

"Yeah, but who knows how much longer we are able to-" A woman with holographic looking wings, armor and spear wasn't able to finish her sentence. While she attempted a fast dive to cut Mana's arm off, she got sliced in two by the mad queen instead. Blood splattered all around as the two halves crashed lifelessly into the ground.

"Insolent fools! Be gone from my sight!" Mana's creepy voice was transmitted through the crystals around her again. It sounded like a furious roar, yet her face remained more or less emotionless. Understandable, since she still couldn't move it all that much apart from her red glowing eyes, but that didn't make it any less terrifying.

While still defending herself with her left, big scythe-arm, her right one appeared to lift something invisible and heavy up. As if heaving something up she could barely even hold. At the same time, dozens upon dozens of man-high, sharp crystals started growing out of the ground to her right. Eventually, though, whatever it had been that had caused her difficulties was overcome by her, causing her arm to fly through the air strongly. Immediately afterwards, the flying Genesis noticed how the countless crystals were flung into their direction, turning them into a hailstorm of deadliness.

"Watch out!" They could only hear one of them shout before the barrage hit them, not even having time to register who it actually had been who had shouted. All their concentration was spent on avoiding the attack by flying up or to the side in time. The lucky ones who were able to dodge it, were able to do little for the ones who weren't. They could only hope that death had come quickly and painlessly to them.

"What the HELL is going on here?" They suddenly heard their king voice his surprise over what currently lied before him loudly. He eyed Mana's new appearance with wide eyes after he had quickly found his way back here. The sound of battle could still be heard behind him, so the fight against the anti-queen faction must still be raging on over there.

His queen emerged behind him soon after, sharing a similar expression. "Is that Mana…?"

The ominous spider/human monster was also quick to realize the identity of the newcomers. Quickly losing interest in her previous adversaries, she decided to shift her focus to them.

"You…" A voice so dark and scary found its way into their ears that it forced every single hair on their bodies to stand on its end. An unnerving sound was emitted by the bloody blades on her arms as she swung them angrily. Shu and Inori readied their weapons in response as well.

"What happened to you, Mana? And where is Gai?" Shu demanded to know.

"Triton is…" To his surprise, his sister's hostility weakened for a second. In fact, her whole stature started to crumble a bit upon hearing Gai's name. Even her voice which had sounded so harsh and monstrous just now, became pitiful, as if completely defeated. "…..Triton is…"

The brunette king raised a brow in confusion. This weak, shaky voice…was she sad? As if to confirm his thoughts, he spotted tears running down her eyes. No way, she was crying?

"He's probably dead, Shu…" It was Inori who finished saying what Mana obviously couldn't bring herself to do. Though it didn't seem as if telling him those words had been easy for her, either. She may have directed some harsh words to their blond ex-friend earlier, but that didn't mean that she had forgotten how said man had also been the one who had given her freedom. Who had allowed her to have a life on her own.

She looked down sadly. So this was how they would finally go their different ways in the end. It had been expected by her, but that didn't mean it would make it any less regrettable. Like her, Gai had always struggled to be by the side of the person he loved most…and now that he had succeeded, fate had harshly separated them again. It had been unavoidable, given his beloved one's identity, but still…what a pity. It only showed how unfair life really could be.

"What?" Shu looked at her in disbelief. "But…but how?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. But I heard Mana when it must have happened. It must have been harsh…" She explained while lifting one of her crystal twin blades up to show him what she meant by 'hearing'. Clearly she had used them as a crystal connection.

"No way…" Shu, too, looked a bit shaken. True, he had been ready to strike Gai down himself if he had had to, but after he had seen both him and Mana getting moved behind the front lines safely, he had allowed himself to assume he had been able to avoid that. For Gai to have died now anyway…it was quite an unpleasant surprise. A few Undertakers around them also looked a bit sullen over the news, though most of them had more of a "serves him right!" face to them.

Mana, however, tensed up…well, her crystal body at least.

"You…heard me…?" Her voice became darker by the second. She also started to get up again, ceasing to be the broken girl she had been just a moment ago.

"I did." Inori answered truthfully, though also avoiding Mana's eyes out of guilt. She knew why Mana was getting angry at her right now. For the first time in their existence, it was probably a justified reason to be angry with her, too.

"I asked for help while being in tears…I even begged for it. Yet no one came. If it was you, you could have still made it in time to save him…..but. You. Didn't." By the end of her rant, Mana's words sounded venomous, demonic even. Reassuming her battle posture, she appeared to be ready to jump on her dreaded rival's throat any minute now.

"That's true." Inori admitted with a frown. She got why Mana was angry, but that didn't mean she had to act as if Inori was the villain here. It had not been as if she had heard her plea for help and decided to shrug it off because she thought knitting Shu a new pair of socks was a bit more important. No, a battle had been going on there and Mana should have known better than no one else that loved ones had to be protected at all costs.

So, could you really blame her for deciding to stick around and protect her king rather than running off to help another queen who had failed to do so with her very own one? Sure, it had been selfish, but that couldn't be helped now, could it? After all, she was absolutely positive that Mana would have done the same if their roles had been reversed. There was not even the faintest doubt about that. If there was anything those two girls shared with each other, it was their selfish wish to love and be loved in return forever. It was their understanding of happiness.

The difference between them now, though, was that Mana had lost her happiness again after all the years of searching for it. She had fought, suffered and killed for it, and then, after finally seeing the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel that had been her journey, she was robbed off it right away. Gai hadn't even been Adam for a whole day before he had died. Fate truly was cruel to Mana, wasn't it?

Still, tragic as the situation may have been…it had not really been Inori's fault. She hadn't killed Gai and she would certainly not let herself get accused of murder by the mad queen before her.

"I won't deny that I chose to abandon him in favor of ensuring Shu's safety. However, it was not I who killed him." She defended herself determinedly.

"Little difference does it make. Denying help in a critical situation is nothing short of indirect murder." Mana replied with a voice full of spite and her blades in position to lunge at them at a moment's notice. A detail Shu didn't fail to notice.

Assuming a defensive stance in front of Inori, he told his sister: "Not if providing help puts other people in danger. Calm down, Mana. Your anger is clouding your judgment. I know how you must feel, but…" His attempt at deescalating the situation peacefully was shot down by Mana rather harshly.

"Shut up!" She yelled at him in her unnatural voice while swinging her scythe-arms around in frustration. "Knowing how I should feel? You know NOTHING, Shu. You did not grow up to become Eve. You did not get forced into the role of destroying the world and you certainly wouldn't know what continuous refusal from your chosen Adam feels like! I have spent half of my childhood in the void realm, trying to fill the emptiness in my heart with the hope that you would eventually come around to accept me! But you…YOU…"

The anger-driven queen gave them a furious roar before dashing forward, aiming her scythes at Shu who attempted to block her blows with Inori's void. It succeeded in preventing her to cut him into two clean halves, but the sheer force of her blows pushed him back ever so slightly. What made matters worse was that she didn't give herself satisfied with just one strike. After the king had blocked her initial attack, she proceeded to pin him down with additional fast paced swings…relentlessly, without giving him any room to counter.

"You chose to be with a moronic vessel…a mere reflection of what I am. I have shouldered years upon ears of your denial only to see you so willingly accept something which wouldn't have even qualified as my shadow…no, Shu. You have NO IDEA, how I must feel!"

Inori immediately launched herself forward. Armed with both her crystal blades, she used a fast-growing crystal to shoot herself up high into the air, from where she intended to come down on Mana like a hawk catching its prey. Focused on Shu how Mana was, Inori thought she could use the opening her enemy provided to end it with one clean hit.

Unfortunately for her, Mana's senses appeared to be far sharper than the mad queen made them believe. Noticing the killing intend, she looked up to where Inori was and hit her away in the middle of her descend with the side of her scythe like a mere insect. She got flung away harshly, but was lucky enough to get caught by Jimmy, who had used his void to reach her quickly. However, by doing so, he had come dangerously close to Mana, who followed up by swinging her arms at him. Forcing him to dodge in fast and irregular patterns, his grip on his queen eventually slipped and she fell again.

Meanwhile, Mana had continued her ramblings:

"And then, after all these years of being in pain from getting denied…I finally manage to find someone who needed me…who accepted me. At long last, all the coldness and loneliness you have burdened me with got blown away by feelings of love and affection. For the first time in YEARS, I had felt happy! Only to have all of that getting taken from me again in the same instant it was granted to me. It was as if fate made a fool out of me, showing me what I could have had, only to rip it from my hands right away! Tell me, do you know how that must feel? Do you?"

"Inori!" Shu yelled worriedly, ignoring his sister's rants entirely. He tried to reach his queen in order to catch her, but got distracted by a wall of spiky crystals which suddenly grew between him and her before he could dash into her direction.

" _Inori, Inori_...it's always about that fake, isn't it?" Mana growled at him with hatred. "Hey, Shu. Since you want to understand how I feel, how about I show you by making you experience the emptiness of loss firsthand?"

"You wouldn't dare!" Shu replied angrily as he swung his sword at her. Since he was out of reach, he sent the silver threads instead, but despite their deadly sharpness, they got deflected by Mana's crystals easily. What sturdiness. These silver threads could cut through metal and concrete like a hot knife through butter, yet these crystals proved to be quite durable.

No, rather than durable, they were simply repairing the damage faster than the void could cut. Shu could clearly see the damage he did to her gradually vanishing before real damage could be sustained. How troublesome Eve's power over crystal truly turned out to be…

Inori had caught herself in the meantime. Creating crystals to use as stepping stones, she slowed down her descend and reached the ground safely, much to Shu's relief. As soon as her feet made contact with the asphalt floor below her, she used her powers to control the crystals she had created midair to launch said heavy objects at Mana directly.

The huge boulders flew straight at the mad queen, who simply cut them in halves or flung them away like baseballs. Her reaction speed was simply unreal. It caused them to doubt if she was really still under the effect of the poison from earlier, but her real body was still not moving at all, only the parts enclosed in crystals. Was her rage able to drive her to this extent? Scary. Immediately after she had dealt with Inori's attack, she charged straight at her in high speed.

"I will erase you, fake!"

The kind queen narrowed her eyes on her as she swung her blades and ran straight at her as well, making the onlookers think she must be crazy. None of the other Undertakers even dared interfering with the battle.

"I am not afraid of you." Is what she said as she slid below Mana's strike, followed by slicing through the foremost crystal legs on the right with her own crystal blades, causing Mana to temporarily loose balance and fall forward. Inori then used the opening to jump on the spider body's back, which was an effective blind spot for Mana, from where she intended to stab her exposed humanoid body from behind. However, she wasn't able to follow up on her intention.

"Don't screw with me!" Alongside Mana's furious yell, crystal spikes shot out of the spider back Inori was standing on, forcing her to abandon her plan and retreat. However, she wasn't entirely fast enough to dodge the attack completely, causing her to get deep cuts on her left arm and leg. Her left blade shattered as well.

Landing a few meters away from Mana, she used the distance to grow back the lost weapon as well as quickly inspecting her wounds. In the meantime, Mana grew back the crystal legs Inori had crushed and walked up to her again, raising her right scythe dangerously over her injured opponent, ready to strike.

"I should have done this long ago." Mana growled at her angrily to which Inori only answered with a determined glare, apparently getting ready to dodge Mana's obvious attack to launch another counter offensive. She didn't have to, though, since her king decided to strike first.

"Don't touch her!" She could hear him roar as he flew past her, equipped with Ayase's flying void and holding the singer's sword in both hands. Making use of the momentum he gained from the hovering void as well as the power of the singer's sword, he cleanly cut off Mana's raised scythe along with the arm that it originally had enclosed. His sister cried loudly in pain as her arm with the heavy crystal weapon fell to the ground lifelessly.

Blood gushed out of the now gaping wound, but Mana was quick enough to close it off with fresh crystals she made grow around her newly attained stump. With that, she calmed down and seemed to be completely fine again…much to the shock of everyone present. Most of all Shu, who had gone through the same experience before…twice. It had been pretty safe for him to say that it hadn't been something you would simply shrug off like that. What kind of monster had his sister become?

"This pain is nothing." She said angrily. "I have already lost everything…I am empty, so let the emptiness inside me have this pain as well. I don't care what happens to me anymore. I will wipe this world clean of everything to make it as empty as me. Starting with you all."

So did she mean to tell them that she had gone into a self-destructive mode in which she intended to destroy everything, including herself? What madness was she spouting? Sure, Shu was aware that Mana must have felt devastated in her current situation, but to go this far…how were they even going to stop her in that situation? As if to reinforce his worries, Mana proceeded to lift the fallen scythe off the ground with the power of her mind alone, followed by reattaching it to its former position, merging the crystals of the fallen arm with the crystals around her stump.

This was bad. If Mana would simply reattach crystals in places for lost limbs and choose to fight with the power of her mind alone, the only way to really stop her would be to make her unable to use her mind, either by knocking her out or killing her. However, both options weren't exactly easy to pull off, let alone optimal. Knocking her out would require them to find a way to not only reach her unharmed, but also damage her in a powerful enough way to make her lose consciousness while avoiding using enough power to kill her. That was a hard thing to do, since it was sort of difficult to determine where Mana's limits lied in that strange new form of hers. On the other side, killing would be easier, because they wouldn't need to hold back, but at the same time would do them little good since Mana would revive in the void realm anyway…out of their reach.

"Damnit, Gai…why did you have to get yourself killed…" Shu mumbled angrily to himself. If he had been still alive, Mana would surely not have become this unstable. Sure, she would have been mad at them, but she had been mad most of the time anyway. They would have been able to handle it. But this…state of hers right now…it was a completely new level.

That was when Mana suddenly started emitting that strange tune from before again, causing every human around them to groan and scream in pain as they went down to their knees, slowly crystalizing. Shu's eyes widened. Was she attempting to bring another Lost Christmas? She had to be stopped!

Luckily for the humans, Inori was with them and soon started to sing a different melody, apparently countering the one Mana was emitting. The crystals that sprouted on the humans crumbled again, followed by starting to grow elsewhere, where they crumbled again. It was an endless cycle of them going to stage II, then falling back to stage 0 only to get into stage II anew. It caused them to feel nauseous and ill. Some even started vomiting or losing consciousness.

"Quick! Get the humans away from here while they still can!" Shu told the unaffected Genesis around him, who quickly complied. Taking their not-evolved comrades with them, they hurriedly fled the battlefield.

"My king, what about the anti-queen faction in our back?" One of the Genesis inquired, causing the king to curse.

"Damnit, I almost forgot." So they still weren't completely crushed yet. "How many are still remaining?"

"Not many. Their army is down to only a small fraction of their original size."

"And they keep fighting?" Shu asked in complete bewilderment. What was up with his enemies today? Had they all become mental all of a sudden? Anyone in their right mind would use the opportunity to flee and regroup now that their enemy was preoccupied with other things…but not so Inori's former soldiers. Why were they all so desperate to die? And why now of all times? They couldn't possibly think they still stood a chance at this point, right?

"Evacuate the humans as soon as possible. Keep a defensive formation at the front lines until evacuation has completed, then either finish them off or let them come here and charge right into their death. If we won't crush them by then, Mana certainly will." Shu said and threw a quick glance at Mana. No, she certainly wouldn't distinguish friend from foe in her current state. Since she was now dead set on vanquishing everything and everyone, she probably already viewed every single being of existence as her enemy. No matter if Undertakers, Mananites, Da'ath or unrelated civilian.

"Understood." The remaining Genesis who had been around to hear him nodded at his words and then proceeded to do as they were told, leaving only him and Inori to fight Mana, who at long last had stopped singing her ominous tune, realizing that it was futile with Inori around.

"Always getting in my way, you insolent puppet."

"If you wish to die, then do it on your own. No need to drag everyone else with you…" Inori replied bitterly while getting healed by Shu who had summoned Hare's void to do so. She had gladly given it to him, since it was far more useful with him than with her during times of battle. "Thanks, Shu. I am alright now." She told him with a small nod once he was done.

"Dying alone. You wish…" Mana gave them a snarky laugh. "At the very least, I will take you two with me. That way, Da'ath will see what they get when they chose to betray me and Triton. If they didn't want us to bring them their new world, then NO ONE will. Especially not you. I won't allow it. I will not be replaced by a fake!"

"Nor will I be your replacement…" Inori chose to utter defiantly as she shook her head. She had no intentions whatsoever to become the next Eve. However, she couldn't hide the fear that also came along with the mere idea of inheriting Mana's title. It had been Da'ath wish after all. Could she really escape such a fate? Shu, who noticed his queen's worries, chose to confidently put a hand on her right shoulder as he stood next to her.

"That's right. We won't let that happen." He told her, to which she offered him a small, thankful nod.

"You two make me sick." Mana suddenly yelled and tried to charge forward again, when she got heavily tackled down by a huge crystal golem…no, rather than a golem, it was actually Ayase's Endlave. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rammed Mana from the side with so much force, that she knocked her back against the building behind her. From there, she tried to pin her down with all her might.

"Now, Shu, Inori! Finish her off!"

"Ayase!" They both exclaimed in surprise, followed by taking their weapons and storming to her side. "On it!"

"You think I would make it that easy for you?" Mana furiously roared as she started to push Ayase's heavy war machine back. She also tried cutting it up, but the crystal armor was too robust for that, so she was forced to remove Ayase through sheer power alone. With a loud yell, she created more and more crystal beams which started to grow out of the ground around her and pushed the Endlave back. Once Ayase was driven back far enough to give Mana's huge body enough space to swing her scythes again, she did exactly that and knocked Ayase back. The whole scene honestly looked like it had been ripped straight out from one of these monster movies. Shu and Inori had just enough time to dodge Ayase's fall to avoid getting crushed by their own friend.

Meanwhile, Yuu was watching the fight from afar with a troubled expression. He had let his opponent in her Endlave pass as soon as he had noticed Mana had entered the battlefield. That had been something beyond his expectations. Why did that happen? Nanba had been supposed to take her and bring her to him, so he could easily dethrone her. But now look at that, Mana had somehow been unleashed and was now threatening the survival of Shu and Inori, whom he intended to make Adam and Eve again in her and Gai's stead. If they were to fall here, then…

Normally, he would not be all that worried about stuff like that, seeing as to how he was a member of Da'ath and thus a firm believer in the survival of the fittest rule nature had provided them with, but there was a fundamental problem this time. Namely Mana. True, if Mana were to kill Inori here, it would very well prove that he had been wrong in assuming that Shu's chosen queen was the superior Eve candidate, but that would also mean that they would be stuck with Mana again, whom they had already openly betrayed.

She would likely not want to work with them again…and Yuu wouldn't even blame her for that. Maybe he would be able to somehow win her favor again, but it would, without a doubt, be a long and tiresome procedure. And given Mana's…difficult character, he would not be surprised if she were to never forgive them at all. No,…Da'ath had already decided to make Inori Yuzuriha the next Eve, so if Mana were to slay her now…to call it a major setback would be a huge understatement. It had to be prevented at all costs.

Of course he believed in Shu and Inori's victory, since he himself had been the one who had suggested to make them Adam and Eve. He wouldn't have done so if he had had even the slightest doubt about their superiority, but still…a risk was a risk.

He wondered what had gone wrong in the first place…now where was that brunette glasses-wearing man when he needed him?

Heavy breathing became audible behind him all of a sudden. Ah, there he was, he thought. Turning around to him, he saw Nanba putting away his stealth cloak, revealing his red, sticky clothes. The source of that had without doubt been the gaping wound on his left shoulder he was so desperately clutching with his right hand. Yeah, something definitely had gone wrong, alright.

"Yuu…help…" He said exhaustedly, having probably carried himself all the way back here with the last of his power. As if to support Yuu's suspicion, he collapsed on his knees soon after, pain visibly distorting his face into a harsh grimace.

The envoy sighed as he went over to him to inspect the wound.

"What happened…?" He calmly asked as he waved someone over while checking the injury with his other hand. The twins from before came out from hiding and stood at his side as soon as they had received his signal. Wordlessly, they waited for further orders next to him.

"I did as we planned. I snuck around to the rear of their army where we expected them to hide Mana and Gai from us. It was as we had thought: They were there. I had some troubles along the way, but eventually I was able to kidnap them." He explained, causing Yuu to nod. He directed the first one of the twins to remain with him, while he sent the other one off by casually pointing at a woman lying not far from them. It had been a soldier of the anti-queen faction. Blinded by the light attack earlier, she had become unable to fight and had remained on the ground, immobilized by moderate injuries to her legs. She was obviously in pain, but was in no position to help herself. Blinded and crippled, she was an easy victim for what he had in mind for her.

"Continue." Yuu told him as he watched the girl walking over to the fallen soldier. Once she had reached the unfortunate woman, he told the twin that had remained with him to put her void on Nanba's wounded shoulder, which the girl did. Her twin saw that and mimicked the action with the wounded soldier.

"I took them with me to the shipyard and hid in an abandonment warehouse, where I proceeded to have my revenge on Gai…"

Yuu listened to that and narrowed his eyes as an unpleasant thought entered his mind.

"By revenge…am I correct in my assumption that you mean you killed him?"

Nanba only looked at him as if he had said something funny.

"Of course it does. What else could it mean? Didn't you say yourself that I would be able to get my revenge if I were to join you?"

The envoy sighed in an irritated way. "Of course I did, but I never thought you would be this narrow minded…you struck me as an intelligent man, so I assumed you would be aware of the fact that murder was such a unfulfilling way of exacting revenge. There are better methods. Ones I would have preferred you to have used." He told him while the twins started to perform the healing.

The woman suddenly started screaming in agony as the glove of the twin touching her left shoulder began glowing in an ominous red color. The crackling sound of energy was heard again, but got drowned out by the poor soldier's cries. She could do little but wonder what the heck was going on since she couldn't even see what was happening around her. Confusedly she kept asking what the hell they were doing to her, yet got no response from anyone.

On Nanba's side, however, things were going smoothly. Surrounded by a gentle, blue light, the glove void of the other twin somehow had begun to close up the wound. Contrary to what was currently happening to the woman, whose shoulder was getting worse and worse by the second. The more Nanba was healed, the more the blind woman got actually hurt in return. It became fairly obvious right then and there, that this had, in no way, been a healing, but instead a transfer of Nanba's ailment to the already unfortunate soldier. They were practically dumbing another injury on an already broken individual.

In a way, it had been an efficient solution. After all, why should they keep two people mortally wounded if they could dump it all on one, resulting in the other one to be saved? Sure, the unlucky one would die, but she had been dead meat in Yuu's eyes as soon as she had decided to oppose all queens anyway. In the end, it saved a life that would have otherwise been lost, same as what healing would have done, so it was a win in his book.

He hadn't necessarily been wrong about that. Efficient this method was. But in no way was it even remotely moral…

Well, not that he would care. What was moral and unmoral was currently defined by rules which would soon no longer apply. Once the apocalypse would happen, Adam and Eve would create a new world, with new rules to follow. So he could really care less about the rules of a world which was about to end anyway.

"Ah, that's much better." Nanba uttered a relieved sigh as he felt the pain leave his body and instead could feel how new vitality took its place. He stood up with new strength, looking even better than before he had ventured out to capture Mana. His smile was soon to vanish, though, as he returned to his serious self. Readjusting his glasses, he chose to continue their conversation.

"You were speaking of other methods of exacting revenge."

"I did. And let me tell you, I am disappointed in you. Here I thought you would be aware of it, but it appears you are still lacking." Yuu told him disapprovingly while casually shooting an arrow into the air with his void bow without even looking. The arrow flew high up and eventually found its destination by falling down harshly onto the head of the unfortunate female soldier who had ended up receiving Nanba's wound. Her pitiful crying and wailing was stopped in just that instant. Nanba would normally be impressed over such excellent marksman skills, if he hadn't already known that such things were to be expected when dealing with the envoy.

"In what sense do I appear to be lacking?" Nanba asked patiently, knowing that there were times to show disrespect in front of your superior, and there were times when it was best to suck up your pride and receive some critique. Unfortunately, this was one of the times in which it was best to do the latter.

"You are a smart man, Nanba, but you fail to see the bigger picture at times. You were so focused on revenge that you jumped on the first thing you associated with it, never pausing to think that there were other ways to get it. Why couldn't you simply show dominance over him without killing him? You know, the natural way. Beat him up a little, take his mate by force…become the new alpha male or something like that. You would have broken the man and we could have still used him for other things." Yuu explained with annoyance in his voice. He had visualized the amount of alternatives Nanba could have chosen by counting them on his fingers.

"Gai was a traitor. What use was there for him?" Nanba wanted to know. The envoy met that question with a knowing smirk.

"Ouma Shu keeps opposing Da'ath. Yet I never killed him. Why do you think is that?"

"I suppose that is because you have plans for him."

"True. It's because even though our opinions differ, he still has value to Da'ath. And it's not only him. Every human being has a certain use one way or another. The difficulty for a king, though, is to find that use and utilize it. But if you keep killing them right away, you may never know what further uses they could have had in the future. It's a waste of potential. Do you understand?"

Sure he did, but the envoy wasn't exactly showing him proof of heading his own words. Provokingly, Nanba raised his arms to point at the countless corpses of the fallen anti-queen faction.

"So what was this all about, then? If every being has their worth, why did you allow these idiots to get themselves killed so readily?"

But the envoy remained cool, shrugging off the accusation of being a hypocrite without a second thought.

"I made use of them. Their use was nothing more than to be sacrificed for the sake of letting you kidnap Mana and Gai. With their foolish mindset of opposing all queens they were bound to die sooner or later anyway. I gave them purpose by pointing their suicidal tendencies into a direction which would be at least somewhat useful to us. " He sighed again as he scratched the back of his head in a somewhat frustrated way before continuing his explanations.

"Not that it really matters, now that you managed to screw up. Gai was supposed to become a gift for Arisa Kuhouin to ensure her further support. Now that he is dead, I will have to find a way to ensure she remains an ally. And then there still is Mana…"

"Am I right to assume simply replacing Arisa would be a waste of potential as well?" The brunette man grumbled disapprovingly, to which the envoy only replied contently.

"Yes. You are a fast learner, I see. It wasn't a waste of time explain these things to you, then."

Nanba frowned at that. If Yuu opposed Arisa's removal, then getting his hands on her would admittedly become quite more difficult. But that wasn't very important right now. After all, he had gotten his revenge on Gai today, and even though Yuu was somewhat displeased with him, he couldn't care less as long as the envoy wouldn't plan to punish him for that.

He had to agree, though, his thirst for revenge had been a tad bit too strong. If he had allowed himself to remain calm and think about things, he could have avoided this whole mess somehow. Especially his slip-up with Mana, which almost got him killed earlier. And if he had to be honest, he sure as hell would have enjoyed to keep a completely broken Gai around as a slave as well, even if it had been for Arisa. Seeing his cloudy, lifeless eyes as he would have been dragged around by her to do whatever the hell she wanted would have been amusing to behold. A king that had fallen as low as to become a slave. Simply hilarious. Especially since that bastard had always been so damn full of himself. Nanba was sure he would have even been able to beat him up every once in a while when Arisa hadn't been around to look after her pet. A sinister smirk appeared on his lips. Damn, now he almost regretted killing Gai.

But only a little.

"I will make sure to learn from today's mistake." He eventually said. He even meant it. Yuu may have been a cocky bastard, but he sure as hell had some interesting views regarding some things. Maybe he wouldn't have to kill Arisa. She might have a few different uses, after all.

"I hope so. Anyway, take the twins and go back. I will clean up that mess of yours myself." Yuu then said with a bored sounding voice and waved them away like one would shoo away a dog.

"As you wish. Are you sure, though? Mana may still be poisoned, but in her current form, she still is kind of scary." Nanba hesitated as he threw another glance at Mana who was still in the middle of combat.

"I am well aware." Yuu replied with a shrug. "Still, she is only one queen against one king and another queen. She shouldn't stand much of a chance. While she struggles with Shu and Inori, I will sneak up on her und finish it in one, clean hit. Go now."

With that, Nanba and the silent twins each gave their respective bows and took their leave. Nanba vanished in a bright flash after getting touched by one of the void gloves, followed by the void users themselves getting the same treatment after putting their gloved hands on their respective other's shoulder.

Once they were gone, he eyed Mana again from the distance. A confident grin appeared on his lips.

"Well, I suppose I should help our future Adam and Eve with their little infestation problem."

-GC-

"You persistent, little rats! Why won't you die? Disappear already!" Mana's creepy voice could be heard again as she lunged forward a Ayase's Endlave. The huge crystal-shrouded war machine caught both of the monster's scythe-arms and tried to push her back.

Now that Mana's means of melee combat had been restricted, Inori came forth behind Ayase and gestured for something to her left to move rapidly to her right. Immediately afterwards, a huge, pointy, crystal emerged from the ground to her left and pierced Mana's spider body with the loud noise of shattering glass. Without losing momentum, it proceeded to drag her to the right, where she got pinned down against yet another building. Ayase quickly followed up and made sure to grab the scythes again before Mana could think of using them to get free.

That was the moment Shu jumped off the Endlave's back he had previously held on to. Proceeding to summon back Inori's void midair, he prepared to cut through anything Mana could still throw at him.

Naturally, she didn't give up at this point. Freeing herself from Inori and Ayase's grip, she shattered her scythes and lower crystal body into countless small crystal fragments which whirled around her as some sort of protective shield. However, Inori's void was strong and came with a bit of basic defense barriers. Resisting the onslaught of razor sharp crystal shards, he pressed onward, hoping to get through and reach his sister in order to knock her out.

But it was for naught. By the time he had made it through the storm of crystals, Mana had already summoned most of them back to regrow her body and weapons she had just shattered. Standing up again, she held both her scythes ready to strike him down.

"Dance with me, brother!" Shu could hear her taunt him in between her swings. He hit the first one away with the singer's sword and dodged the second blade closely by jumping up. Then, creating a circular platform midair, he attempted to use it as a stepping stone to push himself over Mana and onto her blind spot on the back of the spider body, directly behind her.

"Watch out!"

Before he could reach it, he got caught by Inori, who had launched herself into the air again. She changed his course just in time to save him from getting impaled by a huge energy arrow that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Falling down from the sky, it hammered down on Mana's crystal body like heaven's judgment and nailed her in place.

"Did someone call the exterminator?"

Yuu's voice could suddenly be heard as he appeared next to Mana. Shu and Inori landed safely on the ground and regained their battle positions, while Mana appeared to be looking down on the envoy in utter hatred.

"YOU!"

"My, my, Eve. What are you supposed to be? A black widow? Couldn't you have chosen something a bit more…majestic?" He asked her with a disapproving shake of the head, to which she only replied by attacking him.

"How about a royal execution? Would that be majestic enough?"

"I am afraid it's already too late for that. You are already caught in my trap." He hadn't even finished talking when the giant, glowing energy arrow on her back started to suddenly turn into countless red threads which wrapped themselves around Mana's real body. It didn't even matter if some parts were hidden inside and thus protected by her crystals. The threads simply cut through and broke them as if they were nothing. Mana fell to the ground, completely restricted by these weird energy shackles of his. With her crystal body gone, she couldn't move, nor talk anymore. The energy threads also appeared to be charged with electricity or something of that sort. They kept shocking the poor Eve so that the pain would hinder her to form the thoughts needed to create new crystals. Yet, despite all that, her furious glare never ceased to stay on her face, clearly telling him how much she hated him.

Well, at this point, she probably hated everything and everyone, so that might have not meant much anymore.

"Surprised? It's my void's strongest binding technique. Really hard to hit something with it, though. Luckily for me, you were pretty occupied with the next Adam and Eve to notice me aiming it at you. Well, then. Shall we proceed?" He explained while moving up to her. Shu and Inori immediately stormed forward with widened eyes.

"Get away from her!" "As if we would let you have her!" Shu swung the singer's sword and Inori attempted to raise some crystals, but Yuu only offered them a small smile, knowing it was all but futile attempts at stopping him.

"You are too late to stop this. Why don't you simply lean back and enjoy the event?" He offered them casually while plunging his right hand deep into Mana's chest rather forcibly. Said girl opened her eyes wide in shock and pain as she felt the envoy's hand going deeper and deeper into her body. He felt her void, but ignored it, instead, he reached further ahead until Mana felt like he was grasping her very essence, violating it, ripping it apart. Then everything went white.


	14. Long live the Queen

**14\. Long live the Queen**

She opened her eyes.

Where was she? Who was she?

Oh, that's right. She remembered. She was Mana Ouma. Daughter of Kurosu and Saeko Ouma. Sister of Shu Ouma. Eve of the Apocalypse Virus. The true queen.

Well, that took care of the who, but what about the where? Everything around her was white. She saw nothing else, heard nothing else. What was this whiteness anyway? Was it light? Was it a white room? She couldn't tell.

Then, suddenly, she started to hear something. It was a rather familiar sound, yet something she hadn't heard in a very long time.

The sea.

Ah, how nostalgic. How many years had it been? It felt like forever.

The whiteness slowly faded and revealed that familiar shore she once used to visit often. Back in the day when she had still been free. When the world had still been okay.

"Wow, this is amazing, Mana!"

She blinked in surprise. She knew that voice, but it couldn't be. Yet despite all logic, there, right in front of her, stood the source. Shu. But not the one she currently knew, but her sweet, adorable little kid brother.

"Shu?" She asked in confusion as she looked down at him. That's when she realized something about her had changed, too. She felt a bit smaller and her voice didn't feel exactly right as well. No way, was she a kid as well?

"Thanks for taking me out here, big sis! It's wonderful!" She saw her little brother gleam at her with a bright, wide grin.

"Oh, uh. Sure thing." She replied awkwardly, causing Shu to look at her rather questioningly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, no. Nothing at all." She tried to brush it off with a smile. Weird. She thought she had forgotten how that worked. Why, though? She couldn't exactly remember.

"If you say so…hey, can we go and explore the beach?" He asked her eagerly, to which she couldn't help but nod.

"Sure, but stay close to me, alright?"

"Okay." He took her hand. She almost let it go out of shock. This was strange. Why was she back in the past? She didn't understand. What she DID understand, though, was that this was the younger brother she had thought to have lost forever. No way in hell would she allow herself to waste this rare chance to spend some time with him. She wondered, though, if she still knew how a big sister was supposed to act. After all, she hadn't really done this in such a long time. To be like this again…not even in her wildest dreams would she have thought this day would ever come.

Suddenly, she got an idea.

"Hey, Shu. What do you think of Inori Yuzuriha?"

He only looked at her confusedly. "Who's that? A friend of yours?"

Mana for her part couldn't hide the happy grin on her face once she had heard him say that. "Not at all. She is a mean girl. I want you to stay away from her when you run into her, okay?"

"Uhm…okay, I guess? I don't even know how she looks like, though."

"Well, she…" She started, but eventually chose to change the subject after a short shake of her head. "Nevermind, let's not talk about her now. Let's check the beach instead."

"Yeah!"

She let Shu drag her around until they reached said location. It was exactly as she had remembered it. A small lagoon near the cliff they had stood on. The afternoon sun was preparing itself to set, diving and vanishing into the wide sea of clean water. It's reflection on the ocean made it shine like diamonds. Shu had been right. It really was beautiful, she thought. For her to see this view again…she would have never thought.

"Hey, what's that?" Shu suddenly came to a halt and pointed towards something in the distance. Near the end of the beach, a small figure drifted in the water. Mana's eyes started to gleam instantly.

"Triton!" She exclaimed happily as she ran over. Shu followed her with a confused expression.

"Triton?" He asked.

"His name." She explained while trying to get him out of the ocean and onto the beach. The unfortunate boy looked quite terrible. His exposed upper body was adorned with countless minor injuries and the greyish pants he wore were pretty worn out from whichever activities he must have performed prior to ending up here. Everything about him made it fairly obvious that he must have had it rough until now.

"You know him?" He continued to ask as he tried to help his older sister.

"Yeah, well…I mean…no, but…" Well, this was confusing. She certainly DID know him, but she didn't know him yet in _this_ time period, so was she supposed to feign ignorance? It probably was for the better.

"Well, what is it? Do you know him or not?" Shu now sounded rather annoyed. Probably getting tired of all the confusing things his sister had chosen to say lately. This was most likely starting to frustrate him.

"No, I don't. But you see…he came from the sea, so Triton would be a nice name, right?" Hah! Nice save!

"I dunno, big sis. He probably already has a name, so giving him a new one would be…hey, is he dead?"

"Ack, that's right! Almost forgot!" Mana suddenly exclaimed in panic as she quickly started to perform first aid on Triton. This was tiring. She should start paying attention a little more. It would seriously suck if she ended up failing to save Triton just because she had been worried more about staying consistent to the current timeline. Luckily, he soon regained consciousness, causing Mana to sigh in relief.

"Hey, so you really were alive. We were a bit worried there for a sec. How are you feeling? What's your name?" The brunette kid then chose to bombard the freshly revived blond one with questions. The latter could do nothing but stare at him in confusion as he was busy coughing out some water.

"N-name…? Well…"

"See, he doesn't know. So Triton it is." Mana said rashly as she embraced Triton from behind affectionately and proceeded to stroke his hair, causing the blond kid to blush furiously. Even Shu was taken aback by his sister's antics.

"Uhm…who are you people…?" 'Triton' then decided to ask, though with no intentions whatsoever to break free. Apparently he very much enjoyed the warmth Mana provided, given how he was still wet and sparingly clothed.

"Oh, that's right. I am Ouma Shu. That one is my sister, Mana Ouma." Shu explained with a kind smile, pointing at his sister when it was her turn to get introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you." Mana happily added.

"L-likewise." He replied shyly, immediately intensifying the pink haired queen's desire to hold him closer. My, why had she never realized how cute he had been as a kid? He was downright adorable. Like a lost puppy you would want to take home with you right away.

"Let's keep him, Shu." She jokingly said after the thought of lost puppies had entered her mind.

Shu backed off in shock. "Sis, you can't keep a person. He isn't a stray cat or something. I am not sure, but wouldn't that be kidnapping?"

His older sister looked at him thoughtfully. Well, he wasn't wrong…

"He doesn't seem to have any objections, though." She argued as she looked down on Triton who was still resting in her arms. His eyes were still full of confusion, but he sure as hell didn't seem to be uncomfortable.

"Hey, Triton. Don't you want to go home?" Shu then decided to ask the newcomer, but he just looked at him as if he had heard something funny. It was almost as if the blond youth didn't know what home actually meant.

"Home…?"

Shu frowned and scratched the back of his head as he tried to find a way to rephrase the question.

"Well, um…the place you came from…don't you want to go back there…?"

These words caused Triton's eyes to open wide in terror all of a sudden.

"No! No way! I will never return! You can't make me!" He yelled in panic and tried to break free. Mana, however, held him in place easily while trying to calm him down by making soothing noises with her voice. Knowing that it was Da'ath he was so afraid of, she naturally understood where all that terror had come from.

"No one is taking you anywhere, Triton. You can stay with us if you want to. Right, Shu?"

"…Yeah." Her younger brother replied with a baffled expression after a bit of hesitation. He surely hadn't expected Triton to react the way he had. There was still doubt regarding this whole situation's rightfulness hidden in his voice, but his older sister said it was alright, so he would believe her.

"Well, how does it sound? Do you want to stay with us, Triton?" She asked him to confirm that they were all on the same page here. The small boy just nodded quietly, causing Mana to smile at him in a pleased way.

"Then it's decided. You are coming with us."

"I-I'll be in your care."

With that settled, Shu and Mana proceeded to take Triton with them on their way back home. Fortunately, the lagoon wasn't as "secret" as Mana would have liked it to be. It wasn't visited by people very often due to its small size, but that didn't mean it wasn't far away from civilization. Just a short march of about half an hour would lead them back to town, where they immediately searched for the first convenience store they happened to stumble upon. Originally just wanting to buy something to cover up Triton's injuries until they made it home to treat them properly, the shopkeeper turned out to be quite a kind and child-loving elderly lady who offered her assistance the moment she had seen the blond kid's sorry state.

To make things simple, Mana told her that Triton had fallen off a small cliff and into the sea while playing. Shu looked at her as if she was crazy while she did that. Having seen the "small" cliff himself, he thought Triton would have had to look far worse if he really had fallen off it, but Mana knew that the shore was long and there were many different cliffs around. Since she hadn't specified which one they had been at, the woman would probably come to her own conclusions and assume it was one of the not-so-deadly ones.

Anyway. She made it appear as if he had been injured that way and his original clothes had been too damaged to keep around, so they had been discarded, save for his pants. The old lady was so shocked about that story that she offered to treat the boy herself. She even gave him one of her grandson's old shirts for him to wear. Triton was taken aback so much by her kindness that he wasn't even able to form words. A barely audible and shy "Thanks…" was all the old lady got from him in return, which she didn't seem to mind, given her understanding smile.

She also offered them to call the police to take them home, but they kindly refused, figuring they would be able to get home by themselves. And so they left again after bowing to the lady in gratitude.

With that settled, their way home turned out to be no trouble at all. They even talked about trivial things on the way such as what TV show Shu had been watching lately or what kind of stuff he had found the day before when he had gone off somewhere by himself.

It was needless to say that the conversations turned out to be rather one sided, since neither Triton, nor Mana had really had anything to talk with Shu about. The former had lived a harsh life as a Da'ath test subject until now, of which he obviously didn't have any desire to share details about, while the latter had long forgotten what her younger self had actually talked about back in the days. Fearing to accidentally slip up somehow by telling inconsistent lies, she chose to say as little as possible without looking suspicious. However, they both replied to Shu if either asked directly or whenever they felt the need to reply somehow.

It took a while but eventually, Triton started to open up to Shu, who just happened to radiate that huge amount of boyish charm of his. Naturally, Triton couldn't talk about most of the topics Shu was mentioning due to the lack of knowledge about certain things that would be mundane to Shu which obviously hadn't been to Triton, but whenever that happened, the brunette kid would quickly change the subject as if noticing the other one's peril. Mana couldn't help but proudly smile at that. Shu had used to be so reliable back then. Just why did he have to change in the end? She frowned involuntarily. Had it been because she had felt the need to push him into the role of Adam so much? She wondered. If she would have waited a bit more until they had all been a little more mature, would he have actually understood her intentions then? That she hadn't meant ill? That she had been scared, too? What if she could use this situation to try again? To have another chance…would things go differently?

"Hey, sis. You alright?" Shu then snapped her out of it as he asked her worriedly.

"You have been looking kinda sad for a while now." Triton then added timidly. What a huge contrast to the person he would eventually end up to be, she thought amusedly.

"Nothing. Just thinking." She explained to them, dropping the frown in favor for a kind smile.

"About what?" They wanted to know.

"The future." She told them while nonchalantly putting her hands behind her back and looking up to the reddish sky. The sun was still setting. "Say, what do you guys want to be when you grow up?"

Both boys looked at each other questioningly. Where had that question come from? Naturally, they didn't have much of an idea, given how they were still just kids. How should they know? Shu thought he wouldn't mind being anything as long as it would be cool, while Triton was currently plenty content with having just attained freedom from Da'ath. What more was there to think about?

"You see, I want to be queen." She continued to say with a thoughtful look on her face.

"A queen? Of Japan?" Shu asked her in surprise. He didn't hear that wish often. Usually girls around his age would say they wanted to become a model, veterinarian or nurse. The closest thing to "becoming queen" that he had heard so far was the common wish to become a princess. He had thought Mana had been getting a bit too old for this kind of wish. Especially since she had appeared to be a bit more mature than other kids her age.

She shook her head. "No, Shu. The world. Wouldn't it be nice? To unite the world… end all wars, bring peace. Everyone respects and follows you while you look after and protect them." Well, at least that had been the idea behind it, once. A bitter smile appeared on her lips. She wondered when it had stopped being about bringing peace and started to be about eradicating everything instead. Ironically, it had been her who had waged war against her own people. Genesis she herself had gotten into their current state. Why had it come that way? She had had the desire to be a good queen from the start, so why had she turned out to be such a horrible one? And why had it taken her to see her past to actually start understanding how much she had strayed from her once intended path?

"I don't know…doesn't that sound kinda lame?" Shu then replied, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "Where would be the fun in that?"

"Fun…?" She asked, taken aback slightly. Well, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Shu was still a kid right now. When it came to kids, fun was one of the things they wanted to have most of the time. Admittedly, being a queen didn't sound very funny at all.

"Well, you could order people around to do as you please, I suppose?"

"They would have to do as you tell them?" Triton asked in astonishment, getting really interested. All his life he had been at the receiving end. He had always wondered how it must have felt like to be the one to actually give orders around.

"They would. A queen has that kind of authority. Or a king for that matter." Mana explained calmly to him.

"But wouldn't that get boring?" The brunette boy asked them.

"Why would you think so?"

"I don't know. The way I see it, kings and queens have to stay at their castles all day and look after their kingdom. Did you notice how in every game and in every show, the hero isn't a king but a knight, adventurer or something of that sort? He is the one who gets to do all the cool stuff while the king is always forced to ask for help. If I had to choose, I would rather be an adventurer than a king." He told them with a grin as he picked up a stick lying on the road and proceeded to swing it around as if it were a sword. "Wouldn't that be more exciting?"

"I see." His older sister said while giggling to herself. That answer was so childish and yet so like Shu. Even the current Shu had declined the offer to become a king in her new world so readily where others would have usually jumped straight at it. He really was a bit strange, wasn't he? Her attention shifted to Triton, who had been silent for a while now.

"What about you, Triton? Would you like to be my king and reign with me? Otherwise I might become lonely."

"A king? M-Me? Would you be fine with me?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, aren't kings and queens usually…married?" He asked with a slightly flustered face.

An entertaining thought had entered her mind. "Hm, that's right. So, Triton, wanna get married?" She asked with a teasing smirk, which immediately caused Triton to become redder than the dusk visible in the sky. Even Shu flinched in surprise.

"S-Seriously?" They both asked in bewilderment.

"What, you don't like me? Am I going to be rejected by my first love?" She tried to act sad, but couldn't exactly bring herself to do so. The boys' faces were just too funny.

"N-No! Y-you are actually really nice and p-p-pretty! I-I would be really honored!" He suddenly yelled out after attempting to assume a straight posture and fiddling around nervously. She giggled at him amusedly. So cute.

"Then, shall we settle this with a kiss…?" She asked him playfully.

"K-k-k-kiss?" Triton, now so red that he could get away getting called a walking tomato, couldn't help but look at Shu pleadingly, his eyes clearly asking for help since he sure as hell had no idea what to do anymore. Naturally, his new friend had been at least as clueless as he had. This was clearly getting out of hand.

"You don't want to…?" Mana asked with feigned disappointment.

"I didn't say that at all!" He was quick to disagree. "It's just that…when it comes to kissing, I uh…" He looked away in shame. In her mind, Mana couldn't help but laugh hysterically. So even someone like Triton used to be like this, huh? But that only made her like him more.

"Don't worry. I can show you how it works. Just close your eyes real quick." She said with a kind voice, to which he couldn't help but nod and obey. With his eyes now closed, Mana bowed down to his level and closed her eyes as well while Shu felt the need to cover his eyes with both his hands somehow. Though he was still peeking at them through the gap between his fingers.

But then, right when the boys' nervousness hit its peak, the pink haired girl simply gave the blond one a small peck on the cheek, causing him to immediately open his eyes up wide and beholding the beautiful smile his future queen offered him.

"There, it's a promise. When we grow up, let's get married, okay?"

"S-sure. I will do my best!" He said determinedly, while Shu couldn't help it anymore. Pointing at Triton with his right index finger, he burst out into a loud laughing fit.

"Oh…oh my god…your face. Would you look at your face! I…I can't…this is hilarious!"

This was clearly a reaction Triton didn't approve of. While obviously being ashamed he frowned at Shu.

"What are you laughing at? There wasn't anything funny at all."

"That's just because you can't see your face! Right, Mana?"

"I wonder. I thought he was quite manly." She smiled and offered Triton some support after putting him into that embarrassing situation in the first place.

"Right! See?" The blond kid then pointed at Mana as if to prove his point.

"I can't see anything right now from laughing too hard!" Shu merely retorted, followed by wiping away a tear from his eye. "But man, big sis sure is acting funny today."

"Indeed, she is. Though she has much in common with you, young king." All of a sudden, the voice of a certain familiar young man was then heard next to Shu. In a whirlwind of silver threads and particles then a blond haired envoy in a white coat simply appeared at the very same spot, right hand casually put on the younger boy's shoulder. "It appears there really is a bond between siblings, even though your future self so desperately tries to deny it." He simply continued while everyone was looking at him in shock and disbelief.

"Wha-…who…?" Shu suddenly mumbled and stepped back in surprise, while Triton watched the newcomer in fear.

"That guy! How did he find me so soon?" He shook his head unbelievingly and showed signs of running away the very next moment. That was until Mana protectively placed herself in front of both kids, followed by raising a spiky crystal wall between them to draw Yuu off. The envoy simply jumped back to avoid getting stabbed by the spikes while getting an evil glare from Mana in return. There was nothing but contempt to be seen in these eyes. Funny, he thought, since he had seen so much love in them just a moment ago.

"Don't worry, Tsutsugami Gai. I have not come for you. Even though I sort of wish I could simply take you with me as well to be some kind of replacement for the Gai that has already…" He simply said to them before getting interrupted by a growl from Mana.

"Shut up!"

Shu and Triton looked at Mana fearfully. Was that girl who was currently emitting so much killing-intend really the same person from before? And what was up with these crystals?

"What are you doing here? You were not supposed to be here!" It didn't matter whether he was the envoy of the current timeline or the one from the timeline she was in at the moment. Neither of them should have appeared right now, meaning his appearance could only mean trouble. Not to mention that she hated the guy with a passion. She didn't need to find an excuse to slaughter him.

Even if Shu and Triton would end up witnessing it…even if they would grow afraid…it would all be worth it as long as that cursed envoy died. Considering Da'ath's danger, it simply had to be done. She would protect these two kids. But Yuu was in no way intimidated by her. All he did was shrugging as he shook his head disappointedly at her and sighed.

"I could ask the very same thing, Eve. Just what are you doing right now, dreaming of the past like this? I wonder why it is that no matter whose dreams I invade, be it yours or your brother's, all I ever see is the past, never the future. How can two so important monarchs lack visions so much? Does none of you actually care about your future? I wonder what I would see if I were to enter Yuzuriha Inori's dreams. Would she at least show me the future she envisions?"

"What future would that be? A future in a little girl's puppet house?" Mana angrily retorted as she attempted to draw her own void, though failing to actually call it. She cursed angrily. That's right, this body hadn't evolved yet. She couldn't unleash her own void like that. Well, her crystals would have to do.

"You are giving your former vessel far too less credit. She has come far from being the empty shell she had once been. She has risen at least as much as you have fallen in the meantime, as regrettable as that may be."

"What's going on, big sis? Who's that man?" Shu wanted to know.

"Trouble is what he is." Triton answered him in a whisper.

"Don't be afraid, guys. Just stay behind me." Mana ordered them while never letting the envoy out of her eyes, thinking about a way to best him. She wouldn't take any more chances with that guy.

Said man could be seen scratching the back of his head in an irritated way.

"Oh, come on, Eve, would you please stop this farce already? Out of respect, I have kept my distance until now to let you enjoy your last moments in a dream of your choosing, but don't you think it has been long enough already? I can understand why you would wish for a second chance. I would probably wish for one, too, if I were you, but…the thing is, you just can't have one. As sad as it may sound." He tried to make her understand with nothing but sincerity in his voice.

This made Mana look at him questioningly, eyes full of mistrust. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "You must have realized already, don't you? Nothing of this is real. It's all just a dream."

"A dream?" She looked back at her little brother and kid Triton and shook her head furiously. No. This couldn't be. This was way too good to be a mere dream. It wasn't allowed to be just a dream. With this, she could relive her life again. Avoid her mistakes. Do it right this time around. No, the envoy was lying again. She didn't know why or how she had ended up in the past, but that didn't mean it hadn't been impossible, right?

"You are lying. This is real. Has to be."

"It's not, Eve. To tell you the truth, I kind of wish it would, but it isn't. You are here, because you are currently lying unconscious on the streets where I have captured you and I am here, because I came to take the crown from you. To release you from the burden and at long last grant you the rest you have earned. It will all be over soon."

"LIAR!" She lashed out on him. Crystals shot forth directly at him, but he simply defended himself by catching the shards with his mind, just like the rocket he had redirected earlier. With a simple wave of his hand, the small projectiles that had been caught in midair simply fell to the ground like they had been nothing form the start.

Somehow, this simple attack had already worn her out. It hadn't even been a strong attack to begin with, which was why Yuu had been able to easily stop it the way he had. She fell to her knees powerlessly, gasping for air. Shu and Triton ran to her sides worriedly, asking if she was okay.

"This…body…is no good, after all…" She said exhaustedly. Of course, it was, since she currently had the body of when she still only had been a princess, a time in which she had been merely developing her powers.

But Yuu, on the other hand, only shook his head again.

"It's not the body, Eve. It's you. You have long since reached your limit going into that abominable form you chose to use. Without an Adam to stand at your side, you were simply not strong enough to maintain that power output for so long. As I said, you are near your end already. You are still able to tell what is real and what is not, though, aren't you?"

"Stop spouting nonsense…this is real." She refused to believe him as she slowly got up again, only to notice that she was her normal height again. Surprised as she was, she quickly examined the rest of her body and sure enough, it had been her real, adult self. Now panicking, she started to feel up her body from tip to toe just to make sure she wasn't imagining this.

"No, no, no. This can't be. What kind of trick is this…? It was real…" A horrible thought occurred to her. She quickly turned around to the boys only to see that Triton had grown as well. But instead of the healthy version of his adult self, before her only laid the bloody and cold body of what had _used_ to be Triton once. She immediately ran up to him and took him in her arms.

"No, Triton! Don't do this to me! You are fine. You were just now! Come on, turn back into your usual self…" She started to hold him closer, tears started to fall down on his bloody face. "….Please…." She begged, but Triton's eyes never opened. And they never would again.

She hastily turned towards Shu, choosing to cling on hope despite knowing better. "Quick, Shu, help me! Maybe if we can bring him to a hospital…"

But what she saw was nowhere near what she had expected to see. Where there used to be her little, adorable younger kid brother, now stood the very same person, but yet again in his grown form, looking down on her coldly. To make things worse. That pink haired impostor queen, his beloved puppet, stood right next to him, getting held closely by him.

"Help you…? Why should I do that? You are nothing but a monster with the face of my sister. I have nothing to do with you anymore. Let's go, Inori." And with that, he turned around and walked away, taking Inori with him. The latter, however, wouldn't go without turning around at her and smirking evilly, wrapping her left arm around Shu tightly, while forming a triumphant V with the index and middle finger of her other hand. Like that, they went their own way, leaving Mana to herself.

"No, please! I need your help, Shu! Don't leave me alone,…brother!" Yet despite her desperate attempts at making him stay, he never stopped, let alone turned around again. He simple left without another word.

Why…? Why was this happening? Things had been fine until now. She really had believed she could be able to correct her mistakes. But now, everything had gone to shit again, just like it had been before. Nothing had changed. Everything was still useless. She had still nothing. She tiredly looked up to the sky, which had now finally started to get darker. The sun must have finally set at last. How fitting. With the night coming, maybe she would finally be able to go to sleep and forget the horrors of this world. Its ugliness and unfairness. Maybe it would finally all go away…

She heard footsteps and noticed the envoy getting closer. She immediately frowned at him, yet felt too tired to attempt attacking him again.

"This is all your fault, Yuu." She finally accused him. "Everything was fine until you appeared. All you ever do is bringing misfortune." To her surprise, the envoy actually looked as if her words had bothered him.

"Don't you think you are being quite unfair with that statement?" He then attempted to defend himself. "After all, I have been on your side ever since you made contact with that meteorite. Who had it been that had come to you and explained to you what it was you were becoming back then? Who was it that answered the questions not even your parents could answer for you? Who had given you guidance with developing your power? Who had offered you words of comfort when you had been sad and thought you were all alone? Until the very end, I have fought for you. Up to this day, on which it was finally time for me to abandon you."

"Nothing but empty words. In the end, you, too, betrayed me. Like everyone. This whole world was never worth to ascend in the first place. What a waste of time and effort. I wish it would just disappear." She said with cloudy eyes, losing focus. Absentmindedly, she held Triton's corpse closer to her. It was cold, like her hands, like her whole body.

"Betrayal…" Yuu mumbled. "In the end, I suppose I did. But it's not like you had left me with another choice. I am the envoy of Da'ath, and Da'ath seeks progress. When you continued to fail and Da'ath started to grow visibly frustrated with you, I was simply forced to look for a way to replace you. And to be fair, I have defended you many times before. Even when you went against my advice and started the apocalypse prematurely on Lost Christmas. When you inevitably failed, Da'ath was disappointed. They thought you might not be the true Eve, but I kept insisting that your time would come eventually. That you would show them all how much of a queen you could be. I was wrong, though. You only ended up being a failure. I am sorry, Eve. You can say many things about me, but never that I hadn't tried. That I had never stood up for you."

"Am I supposed to believe that? If you really had been on my side, you would have just let me and Triton be…I would have given you that cursed apocalypse at long last. By now, we could have all been preparing for the coming of the new world…instead we are…here…"

"It's unfortunate, but you were too late and out of luck. Originally, even if you had been a bad Eve, no one would have been able to change that since Eve is always chosen by the queen's crown and no one else. In that case, Da'ath would have simple had to suck it up and wait for you to actually succeed since there simply wouldn't have been a way to replace you. But by some sick twist of fate, we ended up creating an additional fake Eve as well, who now opened up the option of transferring the queen's crown up to her. Once I told Da'ath that, they wouldn't have it any other way. Even if the fake Eve would end up being as incompetent as the previous one, they would lose nothing, because in their eyes, the current Eve had been an utter failure as well. It would be worth a shot for sure." He explained to her.

"So, it really is all Inori's fault…" Mana muttered weakly, not even looking into Yuu's direction anymore.

The envoy nodded. "In a way, it is. Her birth, though intended to be just a means of your own rebirth, ended up becoming your undoing. I am sorry, but from today onward, I will be supporting Inori Yuzuriha instead of you. It's nothing personal." It was the truth, too. He didn't hate Mana, nor Inori for that matter. To him, they were both interesting individuals with a lot of potential. Like Shu was, or how Gai had been. To waste some of the potential by killing Mana off…it was simply a shame. Sure, he believed that Inori would eventually end up being the better choice, but that didn't mean he _wanted_ to kill Mana off. If there had really been anything in his life he respected, aside from Da'ath's wishes and his own dreams, then it would be Adam and Eve, who would end up fulfilling both, his as well as Da'ath's dream.

Now he had to end the life of that one Eve he had tried to make queen for so many years. He had seen her struggle since day one and had supported her in every way possible. To see her off now felt as if he was throwing the work of one and a half decades out of the window only to start right from scratch. It was saddening. Depressing, even. If Mana's life could somehow be spared, there would have still been the comfort of things not having been all for nothing. The fallen queen could still end up becoming of use some day. But like this…it left a bitter taste in his mouth. It was not how he liked doing things.

But alas, there was no other way. And even though it may have been regrettable, he would do it. This was for the greater good. For humanity and its right to ascend into superior beings. If one queen hadn't been able to fulfill that task, then the next one certainly would. He stretched out his hand and golden threads appeared around Mana. The threads gradually started to unwrap themselves from her and gather into a ball at the envoy's hand. More and more golden threads started to leave Mana, until even the last thread had found its way into his hand where it formed a whirling orb. It was done. The queen's crown was Mana's no more.

"With this, your services will no longer be required by Da'ath. You are free to rest in peace now, Eve. No, Ouma Mana. Thanks for the good work." He said with a bow. A formality which didn't mean much. Yet, despite the fact that it wasn't exactly meaningful, Yuu still felt that he owed Mana at least that much. He then decided it was time for him to leave. Taking the queen's crown with him, he turned around and walked away, slowly disappearing from view.

It had gotten really dark now, Mana thought as she looked up into the sky. Night had finally come. And what a night it was. No clouds, no moon, no stars. Just thick, wide blackness. She raised her hand into the darkness above and got the feeling as if it disappeared into it.

"Inori Yuzuriha…if only…you had never…existed…" were her last words, before she decided that she had simply been too tired to speak anymore. She had had enough. As her tiredness took control of her body, she eventually gave into it.

She closed her eyes.

Where was she? Who was she?

She was nobody, nothing but an empty vessel. A void existence, fated to vanish into oblivion.

As for the where, well, everything around her was black. She saw nothing else, heard nothing else. What it was? She didn't even care anymore.

Sleep befell her at long last. She wished she would never wake again.

She never would.

-GC-

"Where did he go…?" Shu wondered nervously as he stood next to Mana's unconscious body, looking around the area in hope of spotting a certain blond envoy. Inori was crouching next to Mana, checking her condition.

"She's weak, Shu. She might die."

"What? Oh no, no, no. That's really bad. We can't let her die!" He hastily summoned Hare's void into his hand, attempting to save his sister. Her death would benefit no one at all. If anything, it would only make matters worse. She had to survive at all costs.

The glow of Hare's void engulfed the mad queen and restored her gradually. The lost arm from before regrew and some minor injuries vanished as well, however, Inori was still frowning.

"She is not getting better." She told him while checking her pulse. It had become so weak, that she could barely feel it any more.

"How can that be…?" His shocked voice clearly gave away his confusion. Hare's void had never failed before. Just what in the world was happening right now? In the meantime the sound of the still ongoing battle grew louder and thus nearer to them.

"Ayase, please go and help our troops out." Shu decided absent-mindedly while continuing to pour more of his energy into Hare's void to make it more effective. The brunette Endlave pilot gave him a short "Sure." And drove off immediately. Soon afterwards, the sound of battle would grow louder for a short while before quieting down significantly. Nothing of that helped them with their Mana situation, though.

His queen eventually let go of the other queen slowly with a saddened expression. Looking at Shu's wide open eyes, she could do little more but shake her head.

"She's gone."

"No way…" The king fell to his knees in defeat, looking at his now dead sister. He had failed to capture her alive. Now things would inevitably start anew. Or worse…

His gaze shifted to his queen. If Da'ath really attempted to make Inori Eve, there was no telling what would happen. How would it affect her? Them? Would he be forced to stand against her, like he had with his sister? He didn't even want to think of it. He would sooner die than hurt her. So, did it mean that he would have to bring the apocalypse? But what about the Undertakers? No, this couldn't happen. It had to be prevented.

"Let's leave. There is nothing more to do for us here." He eventually told her while getting up and helping her back on her feet as well. The majority of the Undertakers had already retreated ahead of time and the remaining soldiers of the anti-queen faction were no trouble at all anymore now that it sounded as if Ayase had made short work of them. They could simply finish it in one go and leave before the envoy chose to…

"Sorry to make you wait." Shu cursed mentally as he turned around to see said individual standing there with something glowing in his right hand. It was a whirling sphere of golden threads, similar to the ones he had seen so often when using voids. His void genome also came with these things, but in silver. It couldn't be…! He instinctively placed himself between the envoy and his queen, glaring daggers at the man in front of him. Yahiro's shears appeared in his right hand. It was slightly more handy than Inori's huge sword and should allow him to react quickly to anything his opponent might choose to do.

"What in the world have you done?" He wanted to know angrily, never letting Yuu and the golden thing in his hand out of his eyes.

"I've told you before, haven't I? I have freed your sister in favor of crowning your desired queen to become Eve in her stead. Shouldn't you be happy, Ouma Shu? Your eternal struggle against your sister is finally over. She will now be able to rest in peace." The envoy offered him as explanation while also putting his left, free hand on his chest, as if to offer his respects to the departed.

"Yes, I wanted my sister to finally rest, but not at this price. You will not get that _thing_ anywhere near Inori!" However, the person in question made no attempts at putting distance between the queen's crown and herself. Like hypnotized, she kept starring into its beautiful, golden light. Her gaze became distant, as if her mind had wandered off into a faraway place. Noticing that, the king attempted to shake her out of it, getting even more worried when she didn't respond to him in any way.

"Inori? Hey, Inori! What's wrong? Snap out of it!"

Yuu then spoke calmly as he slowly let go of the crown, which started to levitate on its own. He simply stood in front of them and observed the situations with both his hands in his coat's pockets and curiosity in his eyes.

"I am afraid this is no longer in our hands, Ouma Shu. No one can control the queen's crown. It will make its decision no matter if we agree to it or not. If I was wrong, it will return to your sister, which will certainly doom us all. If I was right, it will choose Yuzuriha Inori and we will all witness the birth of a new, better Eve. Let's see what happens."

The queen's crown then emitted a short sound repeatedly. It was a single note, sounding a bit like the tune Mana had sung earlier when she had attempted to turn the humans into crystal statues. As the sound entered Shu's ears, he felt the strange sensation of it vibrating through his whole body. However, nothing happened to him afterward. Nor did it for Yuu or anyone else for that matter. Except for Inori and Mana, who appeared to glow slightly whenever the tune was emitted.

The crown started to fly closer to both queens, apparently not caring at all that one of them was already dead. From there, it started to circle them both while never stopping to release that strange sound. Was it conflicted? There should only have been one Eve mutation present, yet there were two. What would it do now? Yuu suspected it would go with the better choice. The stronger Eve, deeming the other one a fake. The question was: Who would end up getting discarded as a fake? The real fake? Or the one who had originally been Eve? Soon they would know.

Shu, for his part, didn't want to leave things to chance. He grabbed Inori and planned to run away with her, only to realize that he couldn't lift her up at all. On further inspection, he could see that she had anchored her feet to the ground via crystals. No way, did she not want to flee? But she herself had clearly told him that she had had no desire whatsoever to become Eve. Had she changed her mind? Or was it totally out of her control? What was he going to do now? How could he protect her?

His queen started to lift her right hand up and pointed it towards the golden crown, as if calling it. The look in her eyes was still as empty as before. This was definitely not right.

The strange crown stopped circling the queens, now levitating right in the middle between them. After a while, it eventually started to get closer to Inori, as if having finally made its choice. Yuu sighed in relief while Shu's expression became closer to panic. He went over to his sister's lifeless body, picked it up and held it in front of him while positioning himself between Inori and the golden crown.

"This is your Eve! Take her back! Leave Inori alone!" He yelled. The crown, even though unable to form thoughts, let alone understand him, visibly slowed down nonetheless. It almost looked as if it reconsidered, but then it simply flew over them and continued its way towards Inori.

"No!" The king then put Mana down and used Yahiro's shears in an attempt to cut the weird thing down before it could reach his love. But the void simply went through the object as if it hadn't been existent from the start. Unwilling to give up, he changed the void in his hand to the singer's sword. It was the strongest void he had ever seen and possessed. It could cut everything. Never had it failed him, surely it wouldn't start to do so now. However, only when he attempted to destroy the queen's crown with it, was it that he realized the grave mistake in his thinking. But by then it had already been too late.

The very moment the huge sword had made contact with the whirling, golden threads, they had immediately started to wrap themselves around it. More and more, until the whole crown had shrouded itself around it. Then it simply vanished, apparently fusing with the void.

"What…? No!" Shu yelled in horror as he finally understood what had just happened. The singer's sword had been Inori's heart and soul. Her whole existence. What better way to fuse with her had there been than to directly establish contact with her void? He had been a fool. Instead of saving his beloved queen from the fate of Eve, he had forced her right into it himself.

Inori lost consciousness and fell to the ground soon after. Quickly releasing the void, her king hurried to her side to lift her up, trying to wake her again.

"Inori, please wake up! Open your eyes!" He begged of her. At the same time, the king's mark appeared on his right hand by itself and started to glow. He winced as he felt a heavy burden ro be put upon his shoulders once more. The very same burden he had felt being lifted off of him last night. Impossible…was he Adam again? Then Inori…

Yuu, too looked at the king's mark on the back of his left hand. But unlike with Shu, a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

"It is done. With this, a new age is upon us. Long live the queen!" He happily exclaimed as he clapped applause. "Congratulations, Ouma Shu. You have become Adam once more. Once your queen wakes, tell her that I left only the best wishes for her. I am looking forward to the future you two will bring." And with that, he offered them a short bow before vanishing into a whirl of silver threads again in high spirits.

But Shu had barely even noticed him. His mind was racing right now, trying to find out what he was supposed to do. Inori had become Eve and he, once again, was Adam. They had become mankind's number one enemy from one moment to the next. If he had thought being a terrorist in Japan had been bad, what would it feel like to be shunned in the whole world? What should he do now? Take Inori and run? But run where, exactly? Who were their allies now, who their enemies? Who could he still trust? Did anything change in the first place? Maybe they could still go on like before? Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal…?

"Inori…" He whispered helplessly and still worried as he held her closer. All these problems were rather unimportant compared to the main problem at hand. Was Inori alright in the first place? She wasn't waking up at all. What if she never would? What if she died? Even if she revived due to the Eve curse, he wouldn't be able to get her back unless he defeated Da'ath on his own. Would he be able to do that? He wasn't sure.

"Shu, are you alright?" Came the voice of Juan who floated in the air near him. He had been busy evacuating the humans earlier. Since he was back, it should have been finished.

"Nothing is alright, Juan. Nothing at all." Shu muttered bitterly as he got up, the unconscious Inori still in his arms.

"What happened?"

"Da'ath happened. Like always." He explained with a growl. That cursed organization. When would it finally end?

"Well, uhm, I know you must be troubled right now, but there is more."

"What now?" The king asked somewhat angrily. Though not at the youth in front of him, but himself. Some fine protection he had offered his queen. He had had one job. One. How pitiful.

"The humans are safe and the battle against the enemy is concluded. The remaining forces have capitulated and were taken prisoners. What to do with them?"

He looked at the floating young man with a troubled expression. What to do with them indeed. They had openly announced their hostility towards Inori, so they obviously were enemies and could not be trusted. Then, should they be killed? It would be the safest way out, but would it also be the best? They had already given up, so wouldn't it be cruel to slaughter them anyway, despite their unwillingness to continue the fight? He couldn't simply free them, since they could possibly join the enemy in loop seven. So, take them with him as prisoners? But that would only be a liability since he would have to provide them with food and water without gaining anything in return…they would also have to be kept under watch, so that they wouldn't break out and do some serious damage. He would gain their voids, though. Question was, were they even worth getting?

Urgh, he could ponder this all he wanted, his mind wouldn't concentrate on it anyway. With Inori the way she was right now, he clearly had different problems to worry about.

"Take them with us, we will figure out what to do with them later." He simply decided with a tired voice. He gaze then shifted towards where he had lied down Mana's corpse earlier. With sadness in his eyes, he added: "And bring Mana's body with you. I want to give her a proper burial." It was the right thing to do. She deserved a good resting place, after all. Every dead man or woman did.

Juan looked as if he really disagreed. Throwing a glance at Mana, it became obvious he would have rather let her lie and rot on the ground like the trash she had been, but he knew better than to oppose his king.

"What about the other corpses?" He inquired instead.

Shu took a look around where he spotted quite a lot of dead bodies, caused by the fight earlier. They had either been slain by Mana during her rampage or by the soldiers of the anti-queen faction. There were also quite a lot of enemy corpses lying around. It made him wonder, where was Gai's body? It should be somewhere around here, but unfortunately, he couldn't afford to waste time looking for it.

"Leave them. We have to be gone before the military sends another patrol our way. If you see someone you feel you must absolutely bring home with you, do so, otherwise just let them be." He said with a heavy sigh. If the military found the bodies, they would still get buried or at least cremated by them, so it should be fine. They would probably end up in mass graves, but that couldn't be helped. It was better than nothing.

The real problem was actually that the discovery of the bodies behind the loop seven barrier would only alert the military further. They would want to investigate how the terrorists had gotten past their barrier and if there was anyone of them still remaining. This would result in more patrols on the streets and a tighter security on the barrier. Still, even if Shu were to magically dispose of all bodies, the clear signs of combat couldn't be ignored. Even without bodies, the damage was already done, so it didn't matter.

Juan nodded at his words and flew off. Moments later, he saw his Genesis Undertakers rally up the remaining prisoners in front of him. There weren't that many left. Shu couldn't be bothered to count, but he guessed there were about twenty of them. Considering how they had started with quite an army, this really was almost next to nothing. Worried mumbling and whispers could be heard as soon as they had seen their precious queen lying unconscious in their king's arms. Contrary to the snickering the prisoners couldn't help but let out. It must have felt like a small victory to them.

"So the queen has fallen in the end. Then I suppose it really had been worth it, after all." One of them said loudly enough for Shu to hear him. He eyed him angrily, but soon found his gaze wander down to Inori and his expression changed into a depressed one. One of his soldiers got really angry and hit the prisoner with the big mouth in the stomach. Hard. The unfortunate fellow immediately lost all power in his legs and crumbled to the floor, moaning and coughing.

"Quiet! If you want to live, that is!" He threatened him, and through him, the rest of the prisoners. It worked. Everyone either paled slightly or started to sweat nervously. Some gave off a defiant "Tch!" but not one of them dared to snicker again, let alone speak up.

"Is that all of them?" The king eventually asked after he had finished taking each and every one of their voids, so that they would become harmless.

"Yeah." Came Ayase's reply from her Endlave that stood behind him.

"Is the Humvee we came here with still operational?"

"It appears so."

"Good." He got over to the vehicle and made sure Inori would be able to rest in it safely. Then he climbed on top of it and saw another Undertaker get into the driver's seat. Once he heard the motor come back to live again, he nodded, somewhat pleased, and looked over to his terrorist group. Some of them looked tired, many appeared happy that the fight was over. A few could be seen carrying bodies, corpses of their friends they didn't want to leave behind. Luckily enough, the injured had already been evacuated with the other humans earlier. The morale was rather low, though, and he couldn't blame them for that. Having heard that they had failed to capture Mana alive and now seeing their queen in that sorry state of hers…it was a reasonable reaction, really. He didn't feel all that well right now, either.

"Listen up, everyone." Shu then addressed them from the top of the Humvee. "The fight is over. We have won. I know it might not look like much of a victory right now, but it's not as bad as it looks. Mana may have died, but Inori still lives. Once she recovers, we will be back to our usual pace in no time. In the meantime, let's return to the base and rest a bit. There will be more battles in the future, without a doubt, but for today, let us take a break and recover. Keep an eye on those prisoners. If they try something stupid, kill them. Watch out for the military as well. Let us return quickly to avoid further encounters. That is all."

He saw them nodding at his words tiredly, causing him to sigh and hit the roof of the driver's cabin a couple of times with his hand, signaling the driver that he could start driving. As the vehicle slowly got into motion, his Undertakers followed suit with Ayase covering the rear. Together they started to march home safely. They weren't that far away, so it shouldn't take them long.

But while the soldier's minds were filled with their expectations of getting home and into their beds or maybe getting something nice to eat, the king's mind was filled with other thoughts entirely. Thoughts about the future and his, as well as Inori's part in it.

Continue to fight against Da'ath, or join them.

Bring the apocalypse, or not.

He wondered if everything could remain unchanged, or if he would be forced to pick sides. What if Inori's change would eventually lead to him having to choose between his friends and her? What would he do then?

The scariest thing about all that was not that he didn't have an answer to that question…

It was, that he actually had.

He was scared of the man he already became and even more of the man he could see himself become in the future. It was downright terrifying how far he could envision himself going for his queen. How much guilt he was ready to live with.

Had that been Da'ath intention all along? To set him down on this path? It sure sounded like them. If he had known things would turn out like this, he wondered if it wouldn't have been better to have accepted Gai's offer after all.

He looked up into the afternoon sky thoughtfully. All he wanted was happiness for everyone. Yet, history had taught him that happiness wasn't easily attainable. One would often have to fight for. And as Shu thought about that, he asked himself:

How far would he be forced to go to attain his own happiness?

He shook his head slowly as he attempted to calm down a bit. Surely he was just overthinking this. Inori became Eve, so what? It was just a title, right? Like his Adam thing. That's it. He had been Adam all his life, save for that one day in which it had been Gai. And despite that, he had never felt like he had been anyone but himself. So why should Inori be different? She was going to be alright. Everything would be just fine.

At least he hoped so…


	15. Yours forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attention: Lemon in this chapter.
> 
> Edit: Accidentally uploaded the censored version for ff.net. My bad. Fixed now. (05.06.2015)

**Yours forever**

The tubular lamp on the ceiling gave of its artificial looking light.

That was what Shu noticed as he sat tiredly in his chair back in his room in the hideout. His gaze was directed straight at it, yet he wasn't really giving anyone the impression of actually paying any real attention to it. His thoughts seemed distant, his mental attendance questionable. In fact, he didn't give a flying fuck about that lamp or the light it provided, yet it was the only thing to really look at the moment.

It flickered every once in a while. Approximately once every 5 to 7 minutes. He had counted. Now it flickered again.

How annoying. He sighed as he directed his attention away from the lamp and forward to the two scientists who were with him in the room. They were both examining the unconscious body of his dear queen, who was lying on the bed in front of them.

"So, how does it look?" He asked them, his voice sounding awfully rough, which made him wince mentally. He hadn't used it much lately.

"Her condition remains the same, which is simply weird." His step mother answered him after stepping away from his girlfriend with a sigh of her own. "From a medical standpoint, she is completely fine. No injuries or signs of illnesses. In fact, she is the healthiest woman I have ever seen, even among the Genesis. There shouldn't be a single reason why she shouldn't be awake right now." She told him.

"Yet she isn't…" The king retorted grumpily. "It's been three days..."

"Still, to think that Da'ath would change Eves…that it was even possible…" Now it was Keido's turn to grumble. This whole situation appeared to actually get to him, though probably for a different reason than it did for Shu. Where the king's worries lied in the fact that his queen had become Eve and wasn't even waking up, the scientist was probably more surprised over the fact that he had not been aware of the possibility of it occurring in the first place. Sure, it had been a given that the identity of Eve couldn't be changed, but then again, it had also been a given that there should have never been a fake Eve, either. However, Inori had been the living proof of a breach in the rules. And as things were, irregularities would lead to unexpected outcomes. They always did.

"I should have seen this coming." Or at the very least, he should have seen SOMETHING coming. That was what he thought anyway.

"No one could have seen this coming, brother." Haruka said while shaking her head. "These people over at Da'ath never were predictable in any way. If you had told me they would attempt to make Inori their next Eve a week ago, I would have laughed at you and called you a comedian. But seeing this now…" She folded her arms in front of her and looked down on the pink haired girl worriedly. She sighed. "I really don't know what to do anymore…"

"I won't accept this." Shu then decided to butt in angrily. "There MUST be something we can do to wake her up."

"I have a theory, if you want to hear it." Keido offered him, which Shu gladly took. Giving him a nod, he signaled him to share his thoughts with them.

"Upon choosing its vessel, the queen's crown will begin the mutation of the body gradually as well as slowly transmitting the knowledge of how the Eve power works. Normally at least. However, since the mutation is already present, further changes to the body won't be necessary. It could be that for that reason, the crown proceeded to speed things up by simply giving Inori the knowledge of Eve as fast as possible. Since knowledge is nothing else but information, transmitting it should be rather easy and fast, compared to mutation. Hence why the crown probably took over temporarily to sort that knowledge out."

"That sounds completely ridiculous…" Shu had to admit. What was this queen's crown supposed to be? An USB flash drive? Keido, however, only frowned at him.

"A little more than 5 years ago you wouldn't have believed you would eventually gain the power to pull weapons out of people's chests. Now you have seen people sending thoughts through crystals and you are seriously questioning the possibility of knowledge being transmitted? The world's changing, brat. Better believe it."

"I actually have to agree with Shuichiro on this, Shu. Inori keeps on going into the REM phase repeatedly, which is an indication that she is dreaming. It is widely believed that people are processing newly gained knowledge during their dreams, making short term memory long term memory." Haruka eventually chose to back her brother up.

"Are you serious? That sounds like a parasite entered her body to brainwash and mind control her. Could this _possibly_ sound any more like the plot of a Hollywood movie, or what?" Shu said in disbelief.

"Well, the apocalypse virus _came_ from outer space, so it can't be helped if it feels a little alien to us…"

Shu sighed. No kidding. With all these things going on lately, he wasn't even sure anymore if he himself was still human…or the rest of the Genesis for that matter. There was so much unbelievable stuff going on that it was, frankly speaking, downright hard to simply accept them as reality. But he knew he wasn't dreaming. Everything that had happened in the last few weeks had been real. And if thoughts could be telepathically sent to other people via crystals, maybe the thought of knowledge transmission wasn't so far off. What a scary time to be alive in.

"It's not a parasite, though. It's something like your void genome, only not artificially crafted and with knowledge transmission. If you wanted to, you could say it is a crown that comes with an instruction manual. Could be that Eve crafted guilty crowns would normally come with them as well. No one would know, though, since Mana never got around to create one."

Shu frowned in confusion and groaned. Keido was doing this shit again. Casually throwing in information he thought was common sense, yet was only known by him, and maybe Haruka. So, did he mean to tell him that Eve could also create a void genome? He didn't understand at all. But did it even matter right now? How could any of this help them with waking up Inori?

"Fine already. No parasite and knowledge transmission. I get it. So, how does any of this help?" He wanted to know.

"Well, if that theory is true, and I am saying IF, Inori should simply wake up again once the crown is done with giving her all the information it got. And since the crown cannot be controlled by anyone, we can't affect the speed it works in, so we will, in other words, have to wait it out."

"But that's what we have been doing for three days already!" Shu objected heavily.

"Sometimes that is all there can be done, Shu." Haruka tried to make him understand. "With Inori in her current state, all you can do for her right now is be there for her when she wakes up."

"Actually, what Haruka said just now weren't just empty words, brat. Since Inori has become Eve and you have become Adam, staying close to her is the best thing you can do in order to make her recover. Adam is Eve's strength. The more you value her and the closer you remain to her, the stronger she becomes. Well, according to Yuu anyways." Keido added the last sentence with a bit of scorn.

"What do you think I have been doing these past days? The only time I actually left this room was to go to my sister's funeral…" He told him as he threw a quick glance into the corner of the room where a small altar with a picture of Mana could be found. A small urn with her ashes had been placed in the middle of it. Now that he thought about it, Inori's altar from back when he had thought she was dead was still back in his and Haruka's apartment, together with the altar of his father and mother. The police had probably broken into the apartment by now…well, it wasn't as if Inori's one was still needed anymore, but he still hoped they at least had had the decency to not mess with the other ones.

"That's good. Continue to stay at her side. It's the best thing you can do in the current situation." Keido then said with a satisfied nod. What the hell, Shu thought, what was he acting all knowledgeable for when all he was telling him right now was to continue doing what he had been doing already? That wasn't helpful at all. What a joke. He gritted his teeth in frustration, but soon calmed down again with a shake of his head. No, there was no use getting angry. It wasn't Keido's fault this had happened. It was his own fault. If he had protected Inori like he had told her he would, nothing of this would have happened. He was at no position to grow angry with anybody. Especially since they were trying to help.

"I get it…" He told them with a defeated sigh. "If you really think there is nothing else that can be done, then I will just have to stick with that…"

"Then we will be taking our leave…" Keido said and proceeded to head for the door, opened it and held it in place, waiting for his sister to follow after him.

"Cheer up, Shu. I am sure Keido is right with his theory. Inori will be back to her usual self in no time, you'll see." She said to him as she offered her step son a comforting hug. "Don't give up, okay?"

"As if I could ever…" He told her in response, which earned him a kiss on the forehead.

"Right. Hang in there. Good night, Shu."

"Good night, Mom. And Keido."

Haruka gave him a kind smile, followed by leaving through the door, offering her brother a thankful nod for holding the door open for her. He then followed after her, closing the door behind him. Now he was alone with his queen again. That was pretty much how he had spent the last three days already.

"Guess it's good night for you, too, hm? Haruka said you are dreaming. Sure hope those are nice dreams you are having, Inori." He said with a weak smile as he went over to her. He gently caressed her cheek, to which she, naturally, didn't respond. No surprise there.

She just remained lying there, breathing in and out slowly and peacefully. A few hours after he had first brought her here, crystals of various shapes and colors had begun sprouting all around her. They glowed in the colors they had come in. Red, blue, violet, green, yellow, teal…you name it. It reminded him of the void realm, where there used to be quite a lot of these around. He thought they looked breathtakingly beautiful, but he couldn't really bring himself to enjoy their beauty. That was because every time he looked at them, he also had to see his unresponsive queen lying among them and thus his mood would immediately return to a rather gloomy one. What good was the beauty of these crystals when the one he considered to be the most beautiful of them all would not grace him with her presence?

Of course these crystals had come with a purpose besides merely looking good, according to Hare. The brunette girl had told him these crystals didn't only look like the ones from the void realm, they also behaved like them, providing the people around them with the energy they needed. This had the nice effect that Inori, despite being unconscious for several days, wasn't suffering from hunger or thirst. Apparently she was able to draw all the power she needed from them directly. Nice cheat, is what he had thought initially, but it had soon become clear that these things didn't generate power out of thin air. Unlike with the ones from the void realm, these had to be powered in some other way.

It turned out that the power source was no one else but Genesis themselves. As long as a Genesis was near those crystals, they would continue to glow, which meant that they were working as intended. But if they were left alone for a longer period of time, they would simply cease to function. The Genesis in question would naturally get drained off the power they gave to these crystals. And since Shu was the only Genesis around for most of the time, it naturally ended up being him who got drained.

But that wasn't much of a deal for him. It sounded far more sinister than it actually was. All it did was just take his energy, causing him to become tired, nothing more. It even stopped draining energy once Shu felt too tired to go on. The crystals basically only absorbed what they needed and what they could take without harming anyone. He was fine with that. Especially since he had heard that Inori had done the same for him back when he had been unconscious for a while. Shortly after Yuu had ambushed them in Tennozu High after they had returned from the void realm. Sure, it wasn't exactly comfortable to get sucked dry of your power, but if that was what it took to help Inori, then it was a price he was willing to pay.

It wasn't as if other Genesis hadn't offered to take his place to help out their dear queen, but for some reason, they ended up unable to sustain her, no matter how many people came to help. They just all got sucked dry in a couple of minutes and were forced to leave. Shu thought it was weird at first, but perhaps the things Keido had said about him empowering Inori as her Adam had been true after all.

The thought was rather scary, wasn't it? Inori had already been quite the formidable fighter back when she had only been a fake. Now that she had become the real deal, had she become even more powerful? If so, how much? Enough to bring the world to an end? Well, that was the idea behind it, so that was probably the case. He sat back down on the chair next to Inori's bed, looking up at the ceiling again.

A power boost depending on the bond between Adam and Eve as well as their distance to one another. He knew for sure that Gai had held Mana quite dear and he had been carrying her, too. It's kind of ridiculous once you realize that all that had really stood between them and the end of the world back then was the simple lack of a void genome. If Gai had had a void genome, he could have easily protected Mana while she would have made all the preparations needed for actually bringing the apocalypse. They had been pretty close, yet despite all the power Mana must have had, they still hadn't been able to oppose Da'ath. If not even a fully powered Eve could take them on, what could? Do you have to be a god to actually beat them? Ridiculous.

He found himself looking over to Mana's altar again. He had done so a lot lately. That was because he still couldn't actually believe she was dead. She used to always come back, no matter how often you killed her, so could you blame him? He half expected her to pop up again from out of nowhere any minute now. Of course he was aware of the fact that there was no way she would really come back again, but it would take a while for his mind to get used to that fact. It still felt surreal somehow.

"Well, that's a fine mess you have gotten me and Inori into, sis." He said into the direction of the altar as he massaged the back of his neck in frustration. "I hope you will find rest at least. Still sorry about the weird funeral we held for you." He said truthfully. The funeral had been two days ago and to tell you the truth, he felt ashamed of even calling it a funeral in the first place.

He had originally wanted for Mana to be buried in a cemetery, you know, the place you would actually bury your deceased friends and family members. It was where he thought they belonged. In a place where they could rest. However, that was all before he realized that he was a terrorist and everyone hated his guts. If he went to a cemetery in the city, even if he found a priest willing to hold the ceremony in secret, he still wouldn't be able to take the risk of attending it in person, which pretty much defeated the whole purpose of a funeral, which was to find closure. If he had simple dumped Mana's corpse into the hands of some random guy who could have done whatever he wanted with it, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Then again, he couldn't have just buried her anywhere and be done with it, either. If she were to have a grave, someone would have to look after it. She had been his sister once, not a dead pet bird you could bury in your garden and forget forever. This had especially been a problem now that he had become a terrorist again. How long would he even be able to stay in this base? Or Tokyo? It could be that he would have to leave Japan soon. No one would be there to take care of the grave then.

So, the only logical conclusion turned out to be cremation. The ashes could easily be taken with you when needed. Unfortunately, there hadn't been a Shinto priest around to perform the ceremony, so they had to make do with a Genesis who claimed he had been a priest. It had been a Christian one but Shu hadn't really cared at that point as long as there had at least been someone around who could perform a funeral properly. After all, it didn't really matter much what religion the funeral was held in when you weren't very religious yourself. He had to admit it also kind of fit the general theme somehow if you took into consideration how Mana had been called Eve and had looked for her Adam pretty much all her life, so he guessed that hadn't been all that bad.

He had been slightly surprised by the amount of people who had actually attended the ceremony as well. He had originally thought it would just be him and Haruka. Maybe Keido, too. But quite a lot of Genesis had ended up showing up as well. It had only been after the funeral that he actually got to understand that they had all been former Mananites who had still held some sort of respect for his deceased sister after all this time. Apparently she had used to be quite a good queen in the void realm up to the point Inori had showed up which had eventually caused her to turn mad. He would have never known.

Still, the atmosphere had been rather stiff. No one had said anything, let alone cried for her. Everyone had just stood there and listened to what the priest had said. Afterwards, they had handed him the urn with the ashes and everyone dispersed again. It had almost felt like a mandatory task rather than a holy ritual. Somehow, he thought of that as being quite sad. Maybe he should have looked for Gai's corpse after all. He figured Mana would have probably liked having him close to her, even in death. Well, it couldn't be helped now.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Shu. Can I have a minute?" Yahiro's voice could be heard from the other side.

"Come in."

The door was opened slowly, and in came his brunette friend. He closed the door behind him.

"Good evening, Shu. How are you holding up?"

"So-so. I am tired, but I can bear with it." He told him truthfully.

"Still no signs of her waking up?" Yahiro inquired, taking a short glance at the unconscious queen himself. Shu only shook his head.

"No, but Keido says it's only a matter of time. How are things on your end? Is leadership fun?" He asked with a soft chuckle.

"Temporary leadership, mind you. There is no way I am doing this for longer than I have to. I don't know how you can deal with that shit all the time…or how Inori did for 5 fucking years. I feel like I am going to murder someone the next time someone comes to me to complain about something. Leadership sucks." The strategist grumbled in annoyance.

"Tell me about it. Wasn't Jun helping you with it?"

"Jun?" Yahiro couldn't help but give the king a bitter smile. "That damn brat ditched his position the first chance he got. He crumbles so easily under pressure. I am doing it all on my own most of the time."

"Sorry to hear that. Is it that bad?" Shu offered his friend a sympathetic look once he saw him sigh in frustration.

"I don't want to sound like a crybaby, but it really is. I actually came here in hope of you coming back soon. The constant bickering between Genesis and regular Undertakers keeps getting worse. Especially since we missed the chance of attacking loop seven together with the military in their third offensive the day before yesterday. The Undertakers weren't pleased at all that we continued to do nothing after waiting so long for the opportunity to attack in the first place." He told him.

Shu frowned in annoyance. It was always the same shit with these guys. They are always in such a hurry to fight. It's not like he couldn't understand where they were coming from, but in all honesty, it was starting to get on his nerves. Yes, in the meantime the SDF had launched their third attack on loop seven and, unsurprisingly, suffered a crushing defeat yet again. Yes, if the Undertakers had attacked then to create a second front like they had originally planned, they might have been able to reach Da'ath. But all of that was meaningless as long as Inori remained unresponsive. They wouldn't even stand a chance against Da'ath without her, not to mention that Shu himself couldn't care less about Da'ath right now when his queen was kind of in a critical condition.

"Either we wait for Inori to wake up and attack in full strength, or we attack prematurely and fail to even reach Tennozu High, just like the military failed for the third time. I don't get why that's so hard to understand." He grumbled.

"Well, we withheld the information that Inori was worth an entire army from them to prevent further escalation of the situation…" Yahiro reminded his friend calmly.

"Then tell them. I don't care as long as it causes them to finally shut up about it. They have been making a fuss for two days now. I feel like I am leading a bunch of kindergarten kids instead of a terrorist group." He said with folded arms.

"It's not just them, Shu. The Genesis are growing restless, too. They keep asking about their queen and you. Some have refused taking further orders from me, telling me that I am not their king and thus have no authority over them. I am afraid you can't afford to remain off the radar for much longer, or the whole group runs into danger of falling apart."

"I can't believe this." Shu groaned. "All I asked for was a little break. Is it so hard to allow me to have one?"

"Well, to be fair. Hardly anyone even saw you for the past three days."

"That's my definition of taking a break, you know? To have time for myself."

"I don't think a man in your position has that kind of luxury, Shu."

"Damnit all." The king cursed. "I am just worried about Inori, don't they understand?" He said quietly as he looked down on the floor.

His friend kindly put a hand on his right shoulder and offered him an understanding look.

"Hey, I get it, man. We all are pretty worried as well. But there is a war going on outside. We can't afford sitting on our butts all day for too long."

"I couldn't care less about that as long as Inori doesn't open her eyes. She is the reason I keep fighting in the first place."

"So, does that mean you would be ready to risk the lives of everyone just to save Inori?" He asked him calmly. It sounded more like an honest question, rather than an accusation, which was probably the only reason Shu didn't snap at him immediately and chose to eye him with a serious expression instead.

"You know the answer to that question, don't you?" The real question was what he was going to do about it.

But Yahiro only smirked amusedly, followed by casually putting his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Answered without the slightest bit of hesitation. No wonder the girls fall for you, despite you being such a dense guy."

The king could only raise a brow at that in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Doesn't matter. It's nice to see your resolve, though. Quite inspiring."

Shu scratched the back of his head questioningly. "You know, I thought this was going to turn out like last time. When you confronted me 5 years ago, demanding that I punish Inori for hurting Arisa."

"That's cold. Haven't I told you I would be on your side from now on, no matter what? I meant it. If you choose Inori rather than the world, I will still support you. I have earned back your trust, or at least would like to believe so. No way in hell would I throw it away again by attempting to work against you."

Shu narrowed his eyes and looked at the man in front of him analyzing. "That sounds awfully suspicious, you know? You aren't the type to sacrifice yourself."

"That's because I won't." His friend told him with a cocky grin.

"It's hard to say what will happen from now one. Depending on how things will turn out, you could easily die." Shu told him seriously. Not that he wished for that to happen, though. Still, it was a possibility. The smugness on Yahiro's face got replaced by his usual calm and calculating expression.

"Shu, who do you think you are talking to? Do you seriously believe I would come here and have this conversation with you if I hadn't already ensured my security?"

After a short pause, filled with Shu eying the man in front of him critically, the king eventually had to ask him: "What did you do?"

"Nothing drastic. I have just taken that crystal we have brought back from Arisa into my possession to act as my life insurance." The strategist explained.

"The Eve blessing?" Shu asked in surprise. His astonishment was quick to fade, though, once realization kicked in. "Ah, I see."

"According to Souta and Inori, that thing will ensure my survival during evolution. Even if you decide to end the world, I would still not die."

"Are you fine with that? Many people would die instead." Shu wondered.

"That's hardly my call, is it?" He had a point. The final decision of whether Shu would bring the apocalypse or not was not for Yahiro to make, but him and Inori instead. It was a thing he was still pondering, even now. It had already been clear that he would go along with it if Inori wished for it, but that didn't mean he necessarily wished to do it. It would be nice if things wouldn't come to this.

"Besides, my family is already dead and I don't exactly have many friends left aside from you and Souta. I have nothing to lose. That way, I will at least be able to be there for my brother." Yahiro added.

"So you are worried about Jun?"

"Of course I am, Shu. How could I not be? He is my younger brother. I can't allow myself to die and leave him all alone in this world. Someone has to look after him, wouldn't you agree?" Yahiro said with a small smile.

"I don't know, all I ever see you two do is not getting along." Shu decided to say with a smirk.

"Well, that's what brothers do. And I might regret saying that later, but I actually missed doing that. I would like to believe that he probably did, too." The smile on his lips disappeared as he became serious again. "But really. The current situation can't continue for much longer. No matter what you choose to do, you need to do it soon, Shu."

The king took a deep breath. "…I get it. I will make an appearance tomorrow. It should help. I will make them calm down one way or another."

"Glad to hear that. Remember, I got your back…just tell me in advance if you want to do something…reckless." Yahiro said while taking a quick glance at Inori. Shu looked away.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Right. I will leave you alone then. You look tired and have probably stuff to figure out. Have a good night, Shu."

"You too." Shu said tiredly and watched his friend turn around to leave. "I know this goes without saying, but don't tell anyone about the things we have just discussed."

"Of course. You and me have quite a history with being secretive, don't we?" The brunette strategist said with a weak smile.

"I suppose so. I guess I just can't be an honest leader." Shu admitted with a frown.

"I don't think any leader in history ever was a completely honest one, Shu. Everyone in a position of power has had at least some skeletons hiding somewhere."

The king went over to his chair again and let himself fall into it defeatedly. "Only that my skeletons could easily fill up a whole graveyard…"

"You wouldn't be the first." Yahiro told him with a shrug. "See you tomorrow, Shu."

"Yeah…"

And with that, the brunette man left the room quietly at last. Alone again, Shu found himself looking up at the ceiling again. There wasn't really anything else to do. Sure, he could go to sleep, heck, he even wanted to. But if he did, the crystals would stop taking energy from him, thus possibly delaying Inori's recovery so he would endure until he would finally pass out.

It's not like it would really hurt her if she wouldn't get energy from him for a couple hours. The crystals should have absorbed enough to get her through the night so that he could continue to feed them again in the morning, but given how Yahiro had made it quite clear that he had to do something about the Undertakers tomorrow, he couldn't be all too sure if he would be able to make any time at all, so he was better off giving her all he got now while he still could.

He grumbled in annoyance. These impatient fools. So what if they had missed their chance to attack Da'ath together with the military? Another chance would eventually come. And besides, they were in no rush to do so anyway. The sole reason why they had been in a hurry to attack before was simply because of Mana who had stood at danger of ending the world anytime she saw fit. With her gone now and Inori as her replacement, they wouldn't have to fear a spontaneous apocalypse anymore…or would they?

The problem was that he couldn't tell for sure if Inori would still want to fight Da'ath or join them instead. She had opposed them before, but that was before. She also hadn't wanted to become Eve, only to show no signs of fighting back once it actually came to the transfer of the queen's crown. Of course that could have had many reasons, too. She wasn't exactly acting like herself when it had happened. Which brought him to his biggest worries: When Inori would wake up, would she still be the same woman he had fallen in love with? He had loved his sister once, too, only to come to hate her in the end. He wouldn't be able to bear it if the same were to happen to Inori. It would simply be too much.

Urgh, thinking about this was no use. He was tired and his head felt fuzzy, preventing him to ponder things reasonably. In the first place, there was no way of planning his next move when the one thing that would determine said move's direction was still uncertain. Only once Inori would wake up would he be able to come to a decision. He hoped she would do so soon. His sanity would very much appreciate it.

The light flickered again, causing him to groan. He grabbed the remote in his pocket and switched it off, before tossing the device away in frustration. Then he decided to lean forward, making his head rest on both his hands as they formed two pillars on top of his knees. Instead of the artificial light from the lamp, the crystals in front of him illuminated the room now in the various colors they came in. Unlike the harsh artificial light from before, the sheen that came off them was gentle and calm, almost comforting. As he slowly looked up from his hands to look at them, he couldn't help but sigh, somewhat a bit more relaxed than before. The more he looked at them, the more he felt his eyelids growing heavy. It was only once his head fell off the arm it was resting on, that he actually noticed the danger of falling asleep.

He shook his head quickly, attempting to lose some of his tiredness with it. He could still keep going, all he needed to do was find something to do to keep his mind preoccupied. His gaze fell upon Inori, who rested on the bed covered by a blanket, then onto a bowl with warm water resting on the floor next to her. A small piece of cloth was swimming in it. He remembered someone bringing it in earlier, telling him that Hare would come later to use it to clean Inori's body. She would do that every other day. Checking the time on his mobile, he came to the conclusion, though, that Hare would probably not come anymore today. It was getting late. She probably fell asleep somewhere again from working hard. He couldn't blame her for that.

The water's temperature was still fairly warm, meaning it could still be used for its original purpose. He wondered. If Hare wouldn't be coming anyway, should he be doing it instead? An involuntary glimpse below the blanked revealed to him the fact that his queen had already been stripped and thus prepared for the process. He guessed the Genesis girl who had brought the water earlier had probably done it during the time he had been asked to leave the room. Thinking carefully, he had also seen her taking a pile of clothes with her as she had left, probably planning to do the laundry. Haruka and Keido had arrived not soon afterwards.

He pressed his eyes shut in heavy thinking. Would it be okay for him to do it? It's not like he would do it because of ulterior motives or something. And technically, they were pretty much dating at this point, right? With the exception that they hadn't been on a single date yet in all their time together. Wait, not a single one? That's quite sad. But anyway, he was getting distracted. The main problem here was that he was probably skipping quite some stages by seeing her naked. Then again, that only applied to normal relationships and nothing about theirs had been particularly normal so far. Besides, he had the feeling Inori would totally be fine with him seeing her for some reason.

" _Do you want to see, Shu? It's fine. I can show you."_ He suddenly imagined her voice saying in his mind, causing him to quickly breathe some air out of his nose and look away in embarrassment and slight amusement over his own silliness.

"How stupid…" He said quietly with a flustered face. What the hell was wrong with him, thinking about stuff like this during times like these? He grabbed the wet cloth in the bowl with an annoyed growl. He would do this without having any indecent thoughts. How hard could it be? He wringed the cloth so that it would lose some of its excessive fluids, then grabbed his girlfriend's left hand which was closer to him and started wiping it with the cloth gently. He was pleased to see that her hand was warm to the touch and her skin still as smooth and soft as he remembered it to be. Further signs that she was probably okay.

Things went well for some minutes, until he reached her upper arm and eventually her shoulder. Now things started to become tricky as he wasn't able to beat around the bush any longer. If he wanted to continue, he would have to remove the blanket and do the same with the rest of her body. He gulped. What was she so nervous about? It's not like he didn't know what lied there in wait for him. He could do this. With a deep breath, he removed the blanket from her upper body while forcing himself to look into a totally different direction.

His queen still showed no reaction at all, still gently breathing in front of him. Slowly, he continued his duty. Wringing out the cloth again after soaking it with water, he pressed on. He managed to clean her shoulders somehow by staring at her face, never allowing his gaze to wander below her neck. Then he noticed how he chickened out to move on by choosing to do her other arm first. Eventually, though, it was to no avail, since he only ended up stalling for time. Nothing but a futile operation. The rest of her upper body awaited.

He closed his eyes and tried to slow down his racing heartbeat mentally by thinking about other things. Then he attempted to wipe her blindly. For someone who had previously lived 5 years with the burden of blindness, wiping someone without looking should normally be no problem, right?

Well, that turned out to be nothing but naïve thoughts. To navigate down her body, he would still have to touch her in order to know what he was doing. And unfortunately, touching her wasn't any better than just seeing her naked. The two hills that made up her chest…he ended up touching them and got amazed by the fact how his hands slowly started to sink into them. So soft, so warm. This was so nice.

A quiet voice escaped Inori's lips, bringing his mind back into reality after it had already been drifting away slowly. He backed off instantly. What the hell had he been doing just now? No way in hell could that have been excused as necessary touching in order to perform his cleaning job. Had he been out of his mind to start groping her? To do that to a defenseless girl…he was the worst.

Still, it was awfully pleasant…

He quickly shook his head. He had to focus here. There was still a task lying in front of him. He figured that blind touching had proved itself to be quite fatal, so it was probably better to continue with open eyes for now. It should have been fine as long as he would do it quickly, right? He opened his eyes, only to behold something that he could only describe as a picture of beauty. In front of him lied a pink haired angel in the way she had been born. Completely in her natural look. He thought it was breathtaking.

Her milky white skin, two nicely shaped breasts which, in his opinion, came in the perfect size to not be called too small or too big, and to top it off, those cute, pink nipples of hers which rested on top of them like cherries on a cream tart. He just stood there, mouth slowly gaping apart in awe as he beheld her. A minute had surely already passed before he noticed that he had spaced out. Clearing his throat and averting his gaze hastily, he soaked the cloth again. He then continued where he had left off. With the wiping, not the groping, of course.

Gently, yet quickly, he managed to wipe the sweat off her chest, of which he noticed that there wasn't really much to begin with. She had lied there below that blanked all day, previously even while wearing her clothes and yet, there she was, barely even sweaty. She should have been, yet she hadn't. It caused him to wonder if wiping her clean had even been a justified decision in the first place, rather than a dumb excuse to see her naked. He frowned at that thought. It couldn't be helped now. He had already started doing it, so he might as well finish it.

But as he was about to continue, he suddenly felt Inori's arms wrapping themselves around his right one, pulling him closer.

"So warm…" He could hear her mumble sleepily. Eying her with a shocked expression, he quickly noticed that she was still sleeping, albeit with a small smile on her face as she held him near her like a plushy.

Oh, thank god. He was still in the clear…

Wait, no. That's not what he should be thinking right now. Inori moved. She even talked. That's more than she had done in the past three days. Could it be that she was about to wake up? Now that he thought about it, the crystals had stopped draining his energy and he could even feel some of it returning back to him already. Was it no longer needed? Only one way to find out.

"Inori. Inori, can you hear me? Please wake up." He said as he gently shook her, causing her to frown uncomfortably.

"Morning already…?" She mumbled sleepily, causing him to smile, both of relief as well as amusement.

"Hardly, love. It's nighttime. Please wake up anyway, would you?"

"Hmm…?" Her eyes slowly opened, surprising Shu when they glowed in a bright red. But only for a second. As she blinked a few times, the gleam slowly faded off, making him sigh in relief. He was told his own eyes did that sometimes when he used the power of kings, so he wasn't that freaked out about it. Especially since it stopped immediately.

"How are you feeling, Inori? Is everything alright?" He then asked her in worry, but Inori surprised him by quickly embracing him, holding him as close as she could with a bright smile on her face.

"Shu!" He could hear her exclaim happily. Quickly losing his surprise, he decided to return the hug with a gentle smile as well.

"I suppose that's a yes. I am glad."

"It's even better than that. It's wonderful, Shu."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I can feel it. I had already known before that we share the same feelings for each other, but now I can actually feel it. Your feelings for me. They are radiating out of you so brightly and warmly. And from there they reach me, enter my body and flow right through me. Words cannot describe this feeling. I am so happy." She told him with actual tears of happiness in her eyes. He was actually taken aback. So had the things Keido had said been true? Was this the amplification he had talked about?

"Is that related to becoming Eve?" He asked her, causing her to nod.

"It is. And now that I can actually feel it, I can finally understand why Mana had been so desperate all these years. This feeling? Shu, it is breathtaking. Being near you had already been nice before but now…I don't think I ever want to be apart from you. It might be addicting. I actually wished I could somehow make you receive my feelings as well. It's somewhat unfair." She told him with a sad expression, but he only kissed her forehead.

"That's quite alright, Inori. I am plenty happy with just knowing you feel the same." He told her with a smile.

"Definitely, Shu. All these feelings for me you give me, they are in no way inferior to how mine are for you. I can assure you of that." She told him with a serious expression, making it all the more obvious that she was speaking nothing but the honest truth.

"Then that is all I need to know." He gently caressed her cheek and she giggled softly.

"What is it?" He asked her amusedly, wanting to join in on the fun.

"Your feelings just became a tiny bit stronger. It makes me happy."

"Must I be afraid of you reading my mind now or something?" He asked her jokingly, to which she only shook her head slowly.

"No, it's not mind reading. It's hard to explain but it's more like a pleasant feeling overcoming me whenever I am near you. Like when it's cold and you are sitting near a fire. Or when it's hot and a cold breeze brushes past you. Like that. I can tell how strong your feelings are by noticing how warm the fire or how gently the breeze is. Does it make any sense to you?"

"Absolutely. It sounds nice. How does it feel right now?"

She closed her eyes and leaned against his chest slowly, as if taking it all in.

"Warm. So warm, that you would normally fear you would get burned by getting too close, but instead of burning me, it just embraces me, protects me. I feel at ease near you." She told him truthfully.

"Then it seems my feelings really can reach you, for that sounds exactly like them. Even though the protecting part…I fear I failed with it." His gaze slowly dropped in shame.

"Because I became Eve?" Inori asked him in surprise and quickly shook her head. Taking his head with both her arms, she forced him to look right back up at her. "It is not your fault that happened. It could not be prevented. And besides, it is nothing bad in the first place. I came to learn so many things I previously couldn't understand."

"Such as?"

"How my power really works. Thinking back, I have always used it weirdly. I knew the basic concept of it, but never how it truly worked. It was as if I had constantly been trying to do it with both hands tied behind my back. But now that I actually understand, I can do so much more. Even the Eve's blessing I could not understand before…it all became so clear to me."

"That's nice. But I suppose that knowledge also includes bringing the apocalypse?"

Inori nodded. "It included many things. The apocalypse was one of it. How to bring it, what my role in it would be and what I would need to do after it was all over."

"You mean there is stuff to do even after the apocalypse?" Shu sounded genuinely surprised. He thought it would be over afterwards.

"It's mostly about ruling and leaving descendants who would eventually succeed us." She explained before narrowing her eyes on him in a rather displeased fashion. "That being said, you are awfully mean, Shu."

"H-huh? I am?"

"Yes. You never told me that there was a way to express our love for each other even further than the way we have previously done it."

The king had a horrible premonition about all this. "You couldn't mean…"

"You know exactly what I mean, Shu." She told him with her eyes looking even more displeased than before. "Why have you never told me?"

"I…" He was taken aback. Now he had to justify his decision to not talk about sex to his girlfriend? Give him a break, for fuck's sake! But now that she mentioned it…why _had_ he never brought it up?

"I…honestly don't know. I guess it was a mixture of not wanting to hurt you combined with preserving your innocence." He eventually told her.

"Foolish Shu. What is this about innocence? I don't need that. If that prevents me from expressing my love for you as well as receiving yours, then I will gladly get rid of that. As for the hurting part…nothing you could ever do to me could hurt me." She told him while looking deep into his eyes and putting his hand on her chest, telling him it was alright, but he nervously retreated, causing her to look at him sadly.

"Unless, you are not fine with my body?"

"No way!" He objected instantly, and a little too loud for his liking. He sounded almost desperate, causing him to curse mentally. Calming down, he grabbed Inori's hand and held it firmly as he continued. "You are the embodiment of perfection in my eyes, Inori."

She offered him a happy smile as she leaned back on the bed and stretched out her arms for him.

"Then come, Shu. Make me yours forever."

He looked down at her and couldn't help but be taken aback by the view. There she lied, his pink haired goddess, waiting for him with inviting, outstretched arms. Her smile was warmer and shone brighter than the sun in the middle of spring. This was it, he thought. This was all he needed in the world. Something in his mind clicked and he felt his self-control waning. He leaned down on her and kissed her lips while she put her arms around him.

It was the usual at first. A gentle, slow kiss shared between them. Until he could feel Inori putting her hand on the back of his head, fingers digging right through his hair as they slowly pushed him closer to her. Her kissing then started to become slightly hungrier, her tongue leaving her mouth to search for his so that they could dance together. It was a whole new experience for Shu and if he had to admit, he found it to be awfully arousing. Her actions encouraged him to be bolt as well, causing his right hand to find its way to one of her breasts where it proceeded to feel it up thoroughly.

As he was enjoying the sensation of fondling her soft chest, he felt Inori gasp slightly once he came in contact with her nipple. Noticing this, he curiously decided to play with it some more by taking it between his index finger and thumb, slowly caressing it. Inori responded by moaning and intensifying their kiss. He smirked mentally. Could he have found a weak spot?

He broke the kiss in need for air and looked into his lover's longing eyes briefly. The way she looked at him made him want to kiss her right again, yet he had something else in mind entirely. She watched him traveling down with his mouth, starting to plant kisses down her neck until he reached the chest he was still playing with. He then proceeded to lick her left nipple while using his right hand to play with the other one. Inori then gasped again shortly in surprise, following by slowly caressing the back of his head as if to tell him he did well. Her breathing had become quite heavy, further encouraging Shu to keep going. It was incredibly how much it turned him on hearing her like this.

He then decided to move his other, free, hand down and below the blanket that still covered Inori's lower body. Slowly it traveled down, over her navel and stomach until it slid over to her inner thigh. He proceeded to gently explore the area around there. Looking up, he noticed how Inori was now closing her eyes, probably trying to bear his teasing movements. Her legs started to shift slightly as she started to reposition herself to guide his hand closer to the spot she wanted him to touch. He wasn't sure if that happened subconsciously or intentionally, but he decided to abide her wish and moved his lower hand closer to her most private parts.

There he noticed an interesting thing. A certain wetness could be felt by his fingers as he started touching her lower lips. He had known that that would happen eventually, but he was slightly surprised about the fact how wet it already had become. This could be seen as proof of how much Inori must have enjoyed this moment right now, could it not? He was happy. He started to gently caress the area between her legs while using his tongue to tickle Inori's other nipple, after having played enough with her left one.

"Shu…" A soft moan escaped his queen's lips. Nothing but music to his ears.

Still, this was slightly different than he had envisioned it to be all this time. It was amazing, he couldn't deny that, but it was a bit weird that Inori knew about everything he was doing. He had always thought it would be funny to surprise her with all of this once he would get to actually sleep with her, but now that she had already learned all about it, he figured some of the fun about it was unfortunately lost as well. That's when an interesting thought entered his mind.

The queen's crown had provided her with information about the process of creating offspring. So what if he started doing things which would only bring pleasure and nothing more? He decided to find out. With a knowing smirk, he let go of Inori's breast and got up. He was about to proceed with his plans when Inori's hand grabbed him at his wrist, causing him to look at her questioningly.

"Undress." She told him simply, probably not wanting to waste much time saying unnecessary words. That much was enough to get her point across. It was only now that he noticed that he was still wearing his shirt and pants. He couldn't help but laugh sheepishly. Taking her hand and kissing its back, he replied:

"Of course, my queen." He then removed his belt and pulled down his pants, followed by Inori taking his shirt off him, hastily. The clothes had barely even reached the ground when she already planted a new kiss on his lips while using her hands to guide his own ones back into the position they had been before, right between her legs. That's when he remembered his original plan and slowly broke away from the kiss. He gently pushed her back so that she would lean down again, followed by throwing the blanked off the bed and moving down on her. His face now right above her most private parts. He couldn't help but take in her amazing scent. He loved it. It was awfully arousing. Even to the point that he couldn't hold back any more.

"Shu, what are you…" Was what Inori was about to ask when Shu's lips made contact with her lower ones. She didn't get to finish the sentence as she kicked back her head and gasped in surprise. His tongue entered her and explored every bit of her flesh that was in its reach. The taste was unusual to say the least. If he had to describe it, it was slightly sour with a bit of sweetness added to it. It was surprisingly pleasant. Even more so combined with the awesome scent and the moans that now regularly came from Inori.

To mess with her a bit more, he decided to slow down a bit after a while and continue to lick her very gently, followed by becoming quicker again. He repeated this a few times until he noticed Inori's breathing becoming even heavier and her right hand finding its way back on the back of his head, slowly pressing him closer to her. Apparently, his teasing had reached her limit and so he complied and gave it his all. He could feel her hips moving against his mouth rhythmically as Inori urged him to stick close. Her moans became louder as well. He put his arms around her upper legs to ensure he would be able to keep up with her frantic movement. Her free hand clutched the bed sheets and she screamed in ecstasy as she came. Shu didn't let go until her breathing started to normalize slowly.

"This was amazing, Shu. This wasn't included in the knowledge the crown gave me." His queen then told him while catching her breath. The king smirked. Just as he had thought.

"Seems like the queen's crown isn't all that knowledgeable then." He replied jokingly.

"Teach me more, Shu. I want to know it all." She then said with an expecting look in her eyes. My, she really must have enjoyed it.

"Even if you tell me to teach you…" Shu started to say while scratching the back of his head. Teaching her would require him having actual experience. He, however, just knew a thing or two.

"For now, I want to give you the same pleasure you have given me now."

Ah, that…he pictured Inori going down on him. A nice scene, but he wondered if she would actually like it. Probably not.

"Uh, you don't really have to. It's weird after all."

"What you just did was weird as well, so what? It was still nice."

"It might be a bit uncomfortable, though."

"I don't care. If it's for you, then I will still do it. Now tell me." She kept looking at him with her beautiful and determined eyes and a small smile. Suddenly he found himself out of excuses. He sat down on the side of the bed and gestured for his queen to get in front of him. She did so without hesitation or question. He then made her get on her knees and pulled down his boxers, revealing his manhood, standing tall and ready for duty. Well, how could it not after just now.

Inori's eyes grew wide as she beheld his manliness in awe. Curious, she decided to touch it with her right index finger. Shu felt slightly embarrassed but didn't stop her.

"It's bigger than I thought it would be." She confessed. "It also has quite the thick smell to it."

"Ah, I am sorry?" He wondered if it had been the right decision after all. Maybe he should have showered beforehand at least. But then again, he hadn't expected things to go this way.

"No, I like it. It makes my head go all fuzzy." She told him as she took his member into her hand, slowly peeling the skin back. "I am not exactly sure about it but I want to try something out, so tell me if I am doing something weird."

Shu was surprised to see her approach his manhood by herself as if knowing what to do. As if ensnared by it, she slowly brought her mouth to the tip of his shaft. Soft, wet lips making contact with the sensitive skin of his.

"It became harder." She noticed instantly. Shu thought there would have been no man in the world who wouldn't have reacted the same way to this kind of sensation. She then continued. Kissing the tip again then using her tongue to lick its lower part. Shu was happy that she was doing so with closed eyes so that she wouldn't see the stupid grimaces of pleasure he was sure he was probably making right now. This felt amazing.

Once she had given his member a good taste all around, she proceeded to take it into her mouth entirely. Only the tip at first, but she slowly started to get more and more of it between her lips. While she was slowly getting used to that sensation, she also proceeded to gently massage his balls with her left hand while stroking the rest of his shaft with her right hand.

Shu could not hold back his heavy pants at this point. The inside of her mouth felt like bliss. So warm and slippery, it almost felt as if it had been made for him.

"Oh god, Inori…" He gasped. His left hand he was now leaning on clutched the sheets of the bed while his other one tensed up in midair, unknowing what to do to react to this amazing stimulation. His queen opened one or her eyes to look up at him and noticed his pleasure filled face, causing something in her to click. Pulling back her hair to move it out of her way, she started to suck on Shu's manhood more intensively. She took it deeper into her mouth and did so quicker. In fact, as quickly as she could manage. When she looked up to see Shu moaning in pleasure, she only found more reason to continue what she was doing. This was the first time for her and she instinctively had done it right. This made her happy. And since Shu looked so happy as well, her happiness doubled, too.

"Inori, I am…" He wanted to tell her something but couldn't quite finish his sentence. Not wanting to stop, she dismissed what he had just said in favor on concentrating on the task at hand. Once she didn't stop, she could feel Shu putting his hands on both sides of her head and pulling her closer to his member, forcing it deeper into her mouth. She opened her eyes wide out of surprise and even more so once she felt something thick shooting out of it and right into her throat, but once the initial shock had left her, she closed her eyes and took it all in.

Her king eventually let go of her and leaned back on both his arms, breathing heavily. Meanwhile, Inori pulled back and prevented his sperm from leaving her mouth by holding her hand in front of it. After a short while, Shu finally appeared to have come back to his senses, sitting up again quickly, he looked at Inori with shocked eyes.

"Ah, I am sorry, Inori. It felt so good, that I…" That's when he noticed his queen struggling with swallowing his load, which immediately made him feel bad even more. "You didn't have to swallow it, Inori. It must have tasted awful…"

However, despite his words, she still took her time to swallow even the last bit of it. Once that was done, she even licked her fingers clean.

"This is your precious gift to me. I will receive it all. The floor shall not have even the slightest drop of it. You gave me so much as well, I am happy." She told him with a cute smile.

"Inori, if you say cute things like that, I won't be able to hold back…" He told her worriedly.

"Then don't. I am ready to receive everything you are willing to give me and I will offer you everything I have in return. So please, don't hold back." She told him calmly, causing him to go and lift her up from the ground instantly.

"I don't deserve you." He couldn't help but say once he had gently placed her on the bed again. He then proceeded to lean over her.

"Wrong, Shu. You deserve everything you want." She put a hand on his cheek and caressed it affectionately.

"You are everything I want, though."

"Then go on, make me yours at last."

She wouldn't have to ask him again. He took his member into his right hand and Inori spread her legs for him. Then he pressed his tip against her entrance. He looked up at her just to be sure only to see her giving him a determined nod. That was all he needed for confirmation. As gently as he possibly could, he started to enter her. Taking both her hands into his and letting their fingers interlace, he allowed her to squeeze him to her heart's content. He saw her pressing her eyelids shut and he could hear her suppressing a wince, but she did not cry out. However, tears ran down her face.

"I am hurting you after all…" Shu said in shame. He knew it would have come to this but he still felt bad.

"You are not." His queen denied.

"You are crying."

"Tears of happiness." She declared defiantly.

He looked down to the point where they were now joined together. "There is blood…"

She averted her eyes. "Not mine."

Honestly, this girl. So whose blood was it supposed to be?

"Look, maybe I should pull out for now and…"

That was the moment both her legs wrapped themselves around him, thus effectively preventing his retreat followed by her starting to look at him with determined, albeit slightly angry eyes.

"There. Is. No. Pain. Shu."

The king couldn't help but smile at her antics. Her cuteness knew no limits. Since her eyes were still tearful, they shone in the light of the crystals that surrounded them as if they were crystals themselves. Beautiful. He leaned over her and started kissing away her tears.

"Alright, I believe you." Then he decided to kiss her lips affectionately, not even caring the slightest bit that she had just had received his load in there only a few moments prior. This time, it was a gentle and slow kiss, meant to allow Inori to distract herself from the pain she was "not having". The queen herself seemed to welcome the gesture very much.

However, their gentleness was slowly disappearing again the longer the kiss held on. Shu couldn't help but massage her breasts again and Inori had been so hungry for Shu's tongue that she slightly bit on his lower lip so that he would open his mouth and allow her own tongue entrance.

With time, her hips also started to move which he took as the signal that it was alright for him to move as well and so he did. Words could not describe what he felt then and there. Her lower parts were not only warm and moist, but unbelievable tight as well. Furthermore, Inori occasionally squeezed down on him whenever he did certain things she seemed to like, which, of course, made him feel even better in return. Their breathing became rugged again as their movements became quicker. They both started to crave the other more and more by every passing second. The queen held her king close to her as he kept kissing her neck hungrily, further encouraged by the hot air she kept breathing into his ear during her gasps. The noises of flesh hitting flesh were soon heard with the sound of both their private parts grinding against each other accompanying them.

It was lewd, it sounded naughty and they both absolutely loved it. Even so much that Shu couldn't bear it any longer.

"Inori…I have to pull out soon." He decided to warn her. Since they didn't have condoms, he knew that continuing like this might have dangerous consequences in the future. Surprisingly, however, his queen didn't seem to agree.

"You can't, Shu!" She warned him between her moans.

"But…" That was the moment her legs wrapped around his lower body again.

"I told you already. Your gift is only meant for me. No one but me shall have it, including the floor. Now don't hold back, Shu!"

There wasn't any more time to counter argue and in all honesty, at this point the king didn't even care anymore. With one last, deep thrust, he gave his queen what she had asked of him. She embraced him in gratitude as he collapsed on top of her, though while still leaning on his own arms as to not crush her under his own weight.

"So warm…" She exclaimed contently with a sigh.

"Is it really alright, though? What if you get pregnant?"

"Would that make you sad?"

"No, not particularly. I think I would actually be quite happy. But it's the future I am worried about."

"Don't worry, Shu. Everything will be fine. You will see." She told him with a small smile.

"I wish I had your confidence…" He sighed but brushed off the thought. This was not the moment to worry about the future. This was a moment to cherish forever. He was aware that the majority of family problems probably started this way, but honestly? They lived in times in which they could all be dead the next day, so screw this. If problems would arise, they would deal with them when the time came.

"By the way, Shu…"

"Hm?"

"Could it be that you aren't getting any smaller?"

Indeed, he was still resting inside her and yes, for some reason, his small buddy still stood tall, ready for action. The king couldn't help but laugh sheepishly.

"I am kind of surprised myself, but I suppose your squeezing just felt too good." He told her. Or maybe his stamina had something to do with regaining his energy from the crystals or the fact that he had become a Genesis. Either way, he was still ready for more. A fact which seemed to delight his queen quite a bit.

"Then, do you want to continue?" She asked with a playful smile.

"Do you even need to ask? I've practically been waiting for this since, like, forever." He told her truthfully to which she could only narrow her eyes mockingly, still smiling.

"And whose fault is that? If you had told me about this before, we could have done this way sooner."

"Sheesh, rub it in now , would you…I guess that just means we have more time to make up for, right?"

"I am fine with that. Though we might get a bit of a problem with finding time to sleep."

"Hm, why is that?"

"Because I think I am liking this way too much to hold myself back near you." She told him truthfully, followed by kissing him gently. He smirked.

"Well, who needs sleep anyway…?" He was about to kiss her once more, when he felt her pushing him off her, followed by climbing on top of him.

"Whoa, what…" His sentence was interrupted by her putting a finger on his lips softly.

"You are quite selfish, Shu. Always wanting to be the one who does all the moving just because you like seeing me all flustered." She told him with a knowing smirk. "It's unfair."

"Huh, I have no idea what you are talking about…" He feigned ignorance and averted his gaze not wanting her to see through his lie. It was true, of course. He enjoyed seeing her face filled with ecstasy. Even very much so. Not only did he love seeing her happy, it also turned him on quite a bit. Naturally, he wanted to see it again.

"Think about who you are trying to fool, Shu." She narrowed her eyes on him playfully. "I can feel your feelings for me and they always get a bit stronger whenever I happen to lose myself in pleasure. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"Okay, fine. Busted. But is it that bad?" He tried to defend himself, but only got a kiss in return to silence him up.

"Not at all. It's not like I dislike it, but I want to see it as well. Your flustered face. So this time, I will do the moving." She declared triumphantly.

Hearing her reasoning, he couldn't help but admit defeat with a shrug. "Whatever it is my queen wishes. She shall always have it."

She offered him a content smile, followed by rubbing her lower part against his member. It had lost a bit of its stiffness due to the inactivity of both participants, but immediately regained its vitality as soon as it came in contact with the pink haired queen's privates. Once it stood tall again, she proceeded to let it slide inside her slowly by helping a bit with her right hand. Once that was done, the real fun was about to start with her riding on top of her king.

Gradually, she started moving her hips in a slow, rhythmic motion. It was a movement so fluent and beautiful that Shu thought he would have even enjoyed just seeing it, let alone being on the receiving end of it. It almost looked like a dance due to the rhythm and the way she moved. As she used her hands to put her hair behind her to have them out of the way, he noticed her breasts slowly bouncing up and down in such a way that it mesmerized him into touching them, giving them a nice squeeze and causing Inori to tighten up some more in return. She must have really liked it when he played with her chest, he figured. He should make a mental note of that.

She then leaned forward on both her arms and sped up her hip-shaking sensation. It was so stimulating that he wasn't able to withhold a gasp, causing Inori to smile happily in triumph as she looked down at him. This was quite some high level kind of performance and he couldn't believe he was receiving it on the same night he had had his first time on. He could not believe his luck right then and there. And from the looks of it, he was far from the only one enjoying it. He could see his beloved queen continuing the motion with closed eyes now, her mind probably slowly starting to go blank from pleasure.

Their breathing got rough again and the scent of their sweat combined with various other bodily fluids became quite an erotic aroma which further sent them both over the edge. This combined with Inori's marvelous moving was bound to take him close to his peak in no time again. But he refused to give in so soon after they had started. If he had to come, he would attempt to make her come with him. He watched her closely for that reason. Analyzing the sound of her beautiful moans, he waited for the perfect time to make his move. When Inori started picking up the pace yet again, accompanied by very delightful sounding gasps from her part, he figured that was his chance.

With a gleam in his eye, he grabbed her hips with both his hands and before she could even ask herself what was going on, he started to thrust into her so rapidly, that the bed they were lying on made sounds as if it was about to give out on them. Fortunately, though, it didn't and Inori for her part could do little but open her eyes wide because of the sudden stimulation.

"Ah, Shu, if you move so suddenly, I'll…" She started to object but wasted the rest of her breath on an ecstatic moan. Throwing her head back and putting her hands on both his legs behind her to lean on them, she could do little but let Shu pump her up, she lost all strength to resist and felt her mind melt to mush.

"I am almost at my limit, Inori." Was the only thing he could reply to that in between gasps.

"Me….too….together…!" It seemed like that were the only words she could muster to say at that point. The room was filled with noises of creaking coming from the bed, heavy gasps and moans from them both and bodily fluid splattering as flesh was hitting flesh. An accumulation of trivial sounds come together to form a symphony of love. The last thing they both registered was a loud grunt from Shu and an awfully erotic moan from his pink haired queen before all went quiet abruptly. Exhaustedly, Inori collapsed next to Shu, who took her in his arms and held her closely to his chest. Then they just lied there, trying to catch their breath again. The minutes passed and their heart rate eventually calmed down, yet they still made no attempts at breaking apart from each other. They just remained in their position, enjoying the warmth they shared with each other.

"You are quite mean again, Shu. You weren't supposed to interfere." She eventually said accusingly while letting her finger slide up and down his chest playfully.

"Terribly sorry about that, but I couldn't resist after all." He replied with a sheepish grin and started playing with her hair a bit, letting his fingers travel through it repeatedly in a slow fashion.

"Well, considering how it turned out in the end, I might forgive you this time."

"My eternal gratitude shall forever be yours, my queen." He told her with a grin as he kissed her forehead.

"You won't be getting away this easily next time, though." She quickly added.

"I know."

"By the way, Shu, was the door supposed to be open all this time?" He saw her pointing into the direction of said entrance with a questioning expression. The king only laughed at that.

"What are you talking about, I closed the do…" Only to have his laughter get stuck right in his throat once he turned around to see what she meant. There, right in front of them, the door gaped wide open, allowing the light of the surrounding crystals to fall outside into the dark corridor behind it. Shu quickly got up and looked outside. There was no one on the right and no one on the left. It was completely quiet all around them. He sighed in relief as he quickly closed the door behind him, now even locking it to make sure. He then decided to ask the question to which he very much dreaded hearing the answer to.

"For how long has the door been that way, Inori?"

"Quite a while. It already was open by the time we became one."

He flinched. That long? He felt like crying now. If someone had happened to pass by their room, he was sure to die of embarrassment.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her in surprise. Another surprise was her merely tilting her head questioningly.

"Does it matter? I don't mind letting people know that I love you."

He started to cry mentally. Of course…Inori was still Inori, with the knowledge of the queen's crown or not. She may have learned how sex works, but that knowledge had never included the common sense that it would be something very private.

"I am happy for these words, Inori. Still, please tell me next time if the door is open, okay?" he told her defeatedly.

"Okay, but why, though? We have kissed in public before, so…" She seemed to not understand. Well, he didn't blame her. This was something that was taught to people as they grew up in society. Inori might have simply missed that step. Whatever, it was a pain to explain, so screw it.

"Nevermind, I don't even care anymore…" He then said as he found his way back into bed, lying right next to her. If someone had seen them, then let it be that way. It couldn't be changed anymore and it's not like it would really change anything in the first place. Inori was right about one thing, after all. No matter if they had been seen or not, the fact that he would love her would still remain unchanged. And if someone would end up trying to scold them, he would simply tell them to screw themselves and mind their own business. In the first place, society's rules applied only to those who lived in said society. They who had been banished as terrorists could literally do whatever the fuck they wanted. Hell yeah, fuck the police.

"Anyway, I guess it's time to go sleeping." He thought out aloud as he pulled the blanket over them both. For some reason, though, Inori put a finger in front of her mouth in a cute fashion and shyly averted her eyes.

"…or we could enjoy the night some more…"

This caught him totally off-guard. He couldn't help but stare at her in amazement. "Really? You want to keep going?"

She bit her lower lip and looked at him with these gorgeous eyes of hers. "…we can't?"

"You know…I wish I could, but I don't think I would be able to for at least a couple hours or so…" He informed her regrettably. It's true. He may have had displayed some amazing stamina back there, but even that had eventually come to an end. Genesis or not, he wasn't superman after all.

"That's a problem I can surely fix. Just leave it to me." Was what his dear queen declared with a confident smirk and a hungry gleam in her eyes, followed by vanishing below the blanket like a shark diving into the sea to hunt for its prey.

"Wait, Inori, you can't possibly…oh god!" His sentence was cut short by a certain girl having found what she had been looking for. He gasped in surprise as she started performing her "vitality magic".

This girl. Honestly. Who would have thought she would be this amazing? Was she secretly a succubus or something? He wondered if she would end up being the death of him. And as he pondered the thought, he felt his beloved queen showing him her affection yet again. Suddenly he didn't even care about his earlier question.

If she would be the end of him, he would gladly welcome it.

Wouldn't it be a fine way to die, after all?

Their night continued to go on for many additional hours until even his lively girlfriend would eventually fall asleep from exhaustion. Fortunately for them, no one ended up dying, ensuring that there would be many more of these nights to come. At least they hoped so.

And to be honest, they couldn't even wait for it to happen.

All in all, Shu had to admit that this whole Adam and Eve business turned out to be not so bad after all. Maybe he had just worried too much. He was still himself and Inori was still Inori.

The world was still alright. That's what he believed in that moment at least.

Hopefully, things would actually stay that way for once.


	16. Life of Eve

**16\. Life of Eve**

"What do you guys think you are doing, huh?"

The voice of no one else but Argo echoed loudly through the almost empty halls of the refectory. In one of its corners, some Undertakers sat at a table in a rather defeated posture. In front of each of them, a glass of liquor rested, its contents being consumed by the terrorists as if it was water. They gave off the impression as if they didn't even give the slightest fuck about anything anymore, not even Argo's outburst. A fact which naturally further enraged the former SDF soldier. Grabbing the nearest glass of alcohol, he quickly proceeded to throw it against the wall in front of them, thus effectively catching the attention of the drunkards for one reason or the other.

"The fuck's your problem, Argo?" One of them said angrily.

"The problem is that it's not even past midday and you guys are already getting wasted. What if we have a mission today, huh? You geniuses ever thought about that? What am I gonna tell Shu if half his fighting force shows up unable to shoot someone who even stands directly before them?" He told them angrily.

"Who cares what Shu thinks? He's the one who wasted a perfectly fine opportunity to attack in the first place. That's why there won't be any missions today, either, just like all the days before. If we gonna die in this hellhole, we might as well do so while being drunk." The drunkard told him defiantly, followed by eying the Genesis barkeeper who had tried staying out of the conflict so far by serving them silently. "Hey, gimme another one."

The person in question looked like a man in his late twenties with a bandana wrapped on top of his head and a thick, blond mustache adorning his face. His eyes looked as if they were closed most of the time, yet he appeared to see completely fine as he was handling the job of casually cleaning the glasses in front of him without even breaking a single one. He also wore a thick, leather vest with a greyish shirt underneath. He had the appearance of a stereotypical biker, minus the bike. He also had an aura of calmness around him which led everyone around him to believe that he was far older than he looked. Since Argo knew that Genesis had an increased life span, he figured that thought wasn't even that far off.

"No, that guy is still on duty. He gets nothing more." He then chose to intervene with gritted teeth. "Who are you anyway?" He wanted to know from the strange barkeeper in front of him.

"That's an interesting question, lad. Haven't been able to remember my name or past ever since I woke up in the void realm. People have been calling me whatever they feel like, though recently they have started calling me Jesus."

The ex-soldier couldn't help but lift a brow on him. "That's a rather strange name to have." He didn't even bear any resemblance, either.

"It's because he can turn water into alcohol and vice versa. His void, that is. Only bloody useful thing all around here, if you ask me." One of the drunkards explained to him as he pointed at the bar shaker void resting next to the barkeeper who couldn't help but shrug at that.

"It was useless in the void realm, with there being no water at all, and it will be useless in the future. If the Genesis I served earlier are an indicator, I would say they have become either immune or highly resistant to the effects of alcohol, meaning that if an apocalypse were to ever happen, I could as well throw it into the next trash can. Well, if it weren't for the fact that it's also my soul and all." He told them with a bitter smile. Everyone around him frowned at the mention of the next apocalypse.

"At least you wouldn't die…" One of them mumbled into his glass.

"True, but I figure that in a world in which hardly anyone can get drunk, a void that can turn water into alcohol will be worthless. And if your void becomes useless, you just end up like a scrub. Been that way in the void realm, will be like that again in the real world. Might as well make use of it while it still has a use, eh?" He told them with a pitiful smile.

"Heck no." Argo was quick to tell the man off. "You are only getting the men drunk when their minds should stay sharp. I will have to ask you to stop doing that."

"How harsh of you, lad. Denying a man his last chances to make a use out of his pitiful void." The barkeeper retorted with a deep sigh, to which all the drunkards objected with groaning and loud mumbling.

"That's not true at all, Jesus. You are one of the few decent Genesis around."

"Yeah, man. You are alright, even for a Genesis."

"Right. Don't listen to Argo, he never learned how to lean back and enjoy himself."

The man in question was then seen clenching his right fist in anger before slamming it on the table in front of him.

"I've had enough of this. I am shutting down this "bar" of yours as of this instant."

Everyone was clearly not in favor of his decision and voiced their objections by yelling at him angrily.

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me!" They heard him growl at them as he grabbed the barkeeper's void, immediately causing it to return to its owner's chest. Then he looked him straight into his eyes and told him: "That void will only be allowed to emerge late in the evenings and only then, am I understood?"

However, contrary to his expectations, the biker-like barkeeper stood his ground against his intimidating glare.

"Sorry there, laddie, but you are in no position to tell me what to do. You ain't my fucking king."

"Doesn't matter. I know your king and I am certain he would see things the same way I do."

"That's really nice for you. Be that as it may, though, knowing the king and assuming to be of like minds with him still doesn't grant someone any authority in that matter."

Argo glared daggers at the man in front of him, who just kept his cool as he pulled out his void again to serve his guests.

"Fine, I get it." The ex-soldier then said as he tried to calm down. "If you won't listen to me, I will just have to drag Shu here to tell you personally." He turned around and went straight for the door, determined to report this mess to Shu so that he would fix it.

Some Undertakers started to laugh loudly.

"Good luck with that. The guy would rather mope in his room all day than grace anyone here with his presence." He stopped laughing and looked down into his glass with a solemn expression. "That's not at all why I came back to fight for him, damnit…"

"Yeah, so what if Inori got knocked out? No need to drop everything just to sit beside her bed all day. Heck, I haven't seen my wife and kid for over two weeks. Do you see me making such a fuss over it?"

Argo tried to ignore these ridiculous remarks as he went through the door with quick, heavy steps, clenched fists at each of his sides. He was glad once he actually managed to leave the room so that he wouldn't have to hear even another word of this bullshit.

Just who did they think they were? It was them who had chosen to come here to fight for Shu and now they had the nerve to complain just because things didn't go as they thought they would? Yeah, he was slightly fed up with the fact that they had wasted the opportunity to attack Da'ath together with the SDF as well, but was he making a fuss about it? Hell no. It just couldn't be helped with Inori getting in that sorry state of hers. Yeah, Shu may have went a bit overboard with his worry for her which had gone so far as to even staying next to her for three whole days, but then again, he could sort of understand that. Shu had lost her already once, so naturally he wouldn't want to do so again. Anyone in his position would worry. He knew that he would have, too. Maybe.

He suddenly stopped walking and hit the wall next to him with his fist, followed by sighing in frustration. The truth was that he wasn't sure what to think anymore, either. On one hand, he wanted to believe in Shu and Inori…that they would save them like they had told everyone they would. But on the other hand, Shu had wasted a perfectly fine opportunity to make that a reality just because he was worried about his girlfriend. He wanted to understand his friend's actions, but the truth was, he couldn't.

Was he still acting in the terrorist's interest? He couldn't really tell anymore. Sure, Inori was an important figure in this fight, but important enough to delay all their plans until she had recovered? What if they had wasted their only chance? What if they wouldn't make it in time to stop Da'ath from bringing the apocalypse?

Wait a second, wasn't this Mana girl supposed to bring the apocalypse? She died, though, right? He wasn't claiming that he fully understood what this whole Adam and Eve business was all about, but he at least understood that those two would bring the apocalypse. So…if Mana has died and wasn't coming back…who was Eve now?

An unpleasant realization occurred to him. Did Inori become Eve? Was that the reason she wasn't waking up? So…if she were to wake up, she would have to choose an Adam, right? That would be Shu…Shu and Inori…Adam and Eve…would they possibly bring the apocalypse themselves? Was that the reason why all plans had been cancelled?

"Shit…" He cursed as he shook his head quickly. No way, that couldn't be. They would never do that. Furthermore, there was no evidence that they had really become Adam and Eve. No one had even mentioned the possibility so far. Not to him at least. Could everyone have kept it a secret from him? Maybe they were all in on it from the start?

"I am losing my mind…" He eventually realized as he tried to calm down by taking deep, long breaths. Thinking about it rationally, no one among them would gain anything by keeping secrets from him. If the apocalypse happened, every one of them would lose something, including Shu and Inori. In the first place, he was just assuming things by saying they had become Adam and Eve. Chances were he was just overthinking things.

"Shu is just Shu…" He mumbled quietly and with a small smile. At least until he remembered the image of a certain Shu in the past.

" _If I break this, Argo dies…"_ In his mind he could see a younger version of Shu pointing that out in a sinister way as he was holding his void, followed by laughing quite diabolically.

His smile immediately turned into a frown. He remembered. It was a very long time ago and he would like to believe that Shu had changed from his old tyrant days, but deep down, Argo knew very well that Shu could transform into a ruthless bastard if the right conditions were met. Just like Gai…

He had to be wary…he would like to believe in his friend, but…something inside him just told him it was better to be ready for everything. With that unpleasant feeling he continued on his way to the meeting room. He really hoped he was just being paranoid.

A few minutes later, he finally reached his destination. Entering the former lounge which now served as their command center, he was actually surprised about the fact that so many people were present in there. A total of eight people could be found in here, including himself. First off, there were two Genesis guards standing at the doorway, one of them being that Jimmy dork who had made him fall into his death during the infiltration mission at the Kuhouin headquarters. He kinda hated that guy. Argo saw him yawning loudly, apparently being bored out of his damn mind. Served him right, Argo thought.

Then there was Yahiro and his little brother sitting at the table and discussing the contest of some kind of list they held in their hands. It was probably some kind of administrative stuff they were talking about with them being in charge of temporarily leading the terrorist group in Shu and Inori's stead. Still, their mood appeared to be slightly better than normally. When he had dropped by yesterday, they had looked like death. In fact, only Yahiro had with Jun nowhere to be found at all, probably having ditched his brother at one point during his stressful day. Now they both were actually grinning at each other. He found that to be awfully suspicious.

Then there was Tsugumi, sitting next to a rather flustered looking Hare. They kept whispering about something with Tsugumi eying the girl rather mischievously. Was the poor girl getting teased about something by the dark haired hacker?

The last one of them was Ayase, who sat a bit further away from everyone with a rather irritated looking expression. She leaned on her right hand, eying the rest of them somewhat annoyed. Since she was the only one who didn't seem to be busy at the moment, he figured he would go to her and ask her what this was all about.

"Yo, Ayase. What's up with everyone? The atmosphere is somewhat fishy."

"It's nothing, everyone is just acting like immature children. I am not really surprised about Tsugumi, but the rest…" She told him with a frustrated sigh.

"Did you do something?"

"Me? Not at all. It were our glorious leaders who decided to do something instead and now everyone is like this…" Her eyebrows were shaking from how hard she was pressing her eyes shut right now in anger.

"Wait, Inori woke up?" He asked her in surprise. These were good news, right? That meant things could actually progress again…so why was Ayase acting so pissed about it?

"Apparently she did. Word has it she is quite energetic, too." Tsugumi then decided to butt in on their conversation. Ayase reacted to that by gritting her teeth. Once she saw that, the dark haired girl couldn't help but add a: "Poor Aya-nee." with a teasing smirk.

"That's none of my business…" She retorted angrily as she averted her eyes.

"Aww, don't be like that, Aya-nee. You still have me, don't you?" Tsugumi then said and attempted to give her best friend a hug, only to get said friend's hand pressed against her face as she attempted to push her back harshly.

"Leave me alone, you just want to make fun of me anyway."

"Is that the way to treat your besties, huh? Meanie."

Argo couldn't help but look at them suspiciously. "Okay, what the hell happened?"

Letting go of Ayase, the hacker answered his question with a mischievous snicker. "You will find out soon enough."

That answer only got him even more curious, however, before he could press on to finally get answers, a certain couple decided to appear in a flash, after having used the crystal root that still connected the command room with their private one. All of a sudden, a very happy looking Shu and Inori stood in the room with the former excitedly grinning from ear to ear as he said:

"I have good news, everyone! Guess who woke up at last."

"Sorry to make you all worry." Inori chose to add to that with a small smile.

"Congratulations, you two." Came the response from Yahiro, who told them that with a knowing smirk on his face. He, Tsugumi and Jun then proceeded to chuckle at them rather suspiciously. Hare, for some reason, chose to avert her eyes quickly instead, as if embarrassed by something. Shu had the impression that their reaction was kind of off, but dismissed the thought quickly.

"Thanks. It's nice to know that she woke up without a problem." He told them while taking Inori's hand into his own one, offering her a relieved smile. She responded to that by letting their fingers interlace and giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I bet it is. That's not why I congratulated you guys, though." The strategist's words were followed by another wave of chuckles. This time the king wouldn't let it slide, though. Eying them all seriously, he decided to ask:

"Alright, what the hell's so funny?"

"Dunno, why don't you guys tell us?" Was Tsugumi's amused response to that.

The brunette man had an awful premonition, which was the reason why he then narrowed the eyes on them.

"Say, did, by chance, anyone of you happen to pass by our room late at night yesterday?"

Another burst of chuckles was sent his way. That's when he knew what this was all about.

"I see." He mumbled as he face-palmed in a mixture of shame and frustration. "Let me guess, the nosy one was Tsugumi?"

"I am not sure if I should feel offended or honored that I was the first one you thought of." The hacker said with a troubled looking expression. She folded her arms and looked away with a small grin on her lips.

"Try ashamed." Came Ayase's annoyed response to that, causing Tsugumi to shrug.

"Hey, why are you getting so angry for? It wasn't even me."

Shu directed his attention towards Yahiro, then.

"If it wasn't Tsugumi, then it must have been Yahiro."

Said man only laughed at him and put his hands defensively in front of him as if trying to say he was innocent.

"Hey, man. Do I look like Souta to you? I was long gone by the time it must have happened. Unlike certain little brothers, I actually don't have the time to linger around in front of other people's rooms."

"So it was Jun?" The king inquired with a raised brow, much to the young man's displeasure.

"I would never do that to my king and queen! Brother's words are nothing but baseless lies, please believe me!" He told him with nothing but honesty in his words as he was frantically waving his hands in front of him as to defend himself against these claims.

Shu sighed at that.

"Well, thinking about the past, when it comes down to people entering rooms without knocking first, no one else but Aya-" That was the moment a slightly dated woman's magazine was making contact with his face harshly, after having been thrown at him by a certain brunette woman. It must have been something she had been reading during her breaks out of boredom.

"Who would want to see something like that, idiot!" She yelled at him angrily with a very red face. He wasn't sure if it was due to her embarrassment, anger or both.

Calmly removing the magazine from his face, he just silently eyed Argo, who simply remained standing there with folded arms.

"Don't look at me, I don't even know what we are talking about here."

The king scratched the back of his head in a frustrated fashion. "Alright, who of you is lying here? It had to be one of you guys."

That's when his queen decided to tell him: "It was Hare, Shu."

The girl in question flinched and shrunk down on the chair she was sitting on with a face redder than Sesame Street's Elmo. However, her king only chuckled amusedly and waved her words off.

"Don't be stupid, Inori. There is no way an honest and innocent girl like Hare would do something as shameful and perverted as peeping at other people."

The brunette girl could feel his words hitting her like sharp arrows, each one of them a bullseye. She felt like dying right about now.

"But I saw her, Shu. I am positive it was her. She was standing at the doorway for so long, that I was pondering if I should say something, until my mind eventually trailed off and I forgot that she was there to begin with."

"You SAW me?" Hare then suddenly jumped up from her chair, leaning forward on the table in front of her and looking at Inori in utter disbelief. Until she realized that now all eyes were resting on her, causing her to wish she could just sink into the ground and never come out again. Once everyone was chuckling again, she just looked around with teary eyes.

"E-enough with the chuckles, alright? I-I didn't mean to peep! I just woke up after having realized that I had fallen asleep while taking a break. Remembering that I still had to take care of Inori, who was supposed to be comatose, I hastily hurried to their room, hoping that Shu hadn't fallen asleep yet so that I could still go in, clean Inori and then leave before it would get too late. When I got there, I opened the door just a bit to check if Shu was still awake, which he was, but…" She hastily rattled her explanation out in such a speed that you would think she was firing off a machine gun with her words being used as ammunition.

Her attempt at justifying herself didn't satisfy Tsugumi, though. Eying her with a mischievous smirk, she asked: "If that's the case, why did Inori say you kept standing in the doorway, huh? Naughty girl, don't tell me you…"

That was the moment Hare unleashed her void, sent it out into the dark haired hacker's direction and made it wrap itself around her mouth, thus effectively shutting her up.

"Yes, you are right. So shocked by that unexpected development, I was actually paralyzed for a short while. However, as soon as I felt my control over my body returning, I quickly and quietly, as not to disturb, turned around and left." She continued the explanation, accompanied by nervous laughing. When she noticed Tsugumi narrowing her eyes on her, she also started sweating very much. Her eyes said "Really? I don't believe you."

"She really didn't seem to be feeling that well. From the few glimpses I managed to get of her, she appeared to be quite flustered and breathing heavily…" Inori then decided to back her up, not realizing that her words actually had the opposite effect. Tsugumi grinned under the bandage-like void and threw a glance at Hare which seemed to say: "Busted!"

Hare then collapsed on top of the table, tears silently flowing out of her eyes as a defeated look appeared on her face. Someone, please just kill her now. My queen, my queen, why hast thou forsaken meeee?

"I still have no idea what we are even talking about here…" Argo felt like saying after getting even more confused about the current situation. Tsugumi groaned at him, now released from Hare's void again.

"Man, you are slow. These two…" She pointed at a certain brunette king and his queen. "…finally porked while this girl…." She pointed at Hare. "…enjoyed herself watching them go at it." Casually making her way over to the defeated brunette, she then proceeded to add a single word, grinning: "Pervert."

It was just a single word, yet the unfortunate girl could feel it falling down on her head like a sack of bricks. Lifelessly she just remained to lie on the table, feeling as if her soul was already leaving her body. She was done for. Fatality.

"Oh." Meanwhile, the former military man looked at her as if she had just told him something trivial. Realization about her words' meaning, however, seemed to have reached him a bit later, once he started opening his eyes wide, followed by exclaiming an "Ooooooh.". This time it sounded a bit more surprised, as you would have expected it to sound all along. Everyone sighed at him.

Shu then decided to clear his throat with an awkward smile. Unable to think of a possible way to react to any of this, he decided to quickly move on while they still could. "I think we have all heard quite enough of this already, so maybe we could just change the subject?"

"Agreed." Agreed." Both, Ayase and Hare, said at the same time. Though the former said it with annoyance while the latter with quite the whiny voice.

Tsugumi seemed to be disappointed for some reason. "Meh, it wasn't quite as funny as I thought it would be. Shu and Inori were barely even embarrassed…where is the fun at teasing them, then?"

"Since Hare had been kind enough to keep the door open wide before she left, I was able to foresee this situation. You could say I was quite prepared for this. Sorry to kill your fun, Tsugumi." Shu merely told her with a small grin.

"Why were we supposed to be embarrassed in the first place?" Inori wondered next to him. Tsugumi sighed at that.

"What a buzzkill. Well, at least Hare's reaction was somewhat funny."

"Ah, youth…" Jimmy suddenly reported from his guard post near the door, probably having overheard all of that just now. "I still remember that one time in summer camp when…"

"Nobody asked!" Everyone immediately yelled, causing him to effectively shut up.

"Hmph…your loss."

-GC-

A couple minutes later, everyone was seated on the round table in the middle with only Haruka's and Keido's seats empty. They had been informed, but hadn't showed up, yet. Not that it really mattered, since their presence hadn't been mandatory anyway. All eyes rested on Shu and Inori, with the exception of Hare's who was still shrouded in a somewhat gloomy aura.

"Well, back to business. With Inori back on her feet, we both can finally return to our leader duties again." Shu said calmly and earned approving nods from both, Jun and Yahiro who had been forced to be their replacement up until now.

"There is an important change we both need to inform you of, though." He then continued, followed by taking a glance over at Inori who sat next to him.

"Following Mana's demise, I have now ended up taking her place as Eve, thus making Shu my Adam." She explained to them calmly.

The group who had probably already expected to hear something of that sort from the start, took the news rather well with the exception of Argo who couldn't help but open his eyes wide. Cold sweat started to appear on his forehead. So it had been true…

"I see…so where does this put us, then?" Ayase wanted to know, eying them both seriously.

"Exactly where we were before." Inori answered her. "Me being Eve changes nothing. I have no desire to bring the apocalypse."

The room was then filled with sighs of relief. Shu could relate to that. He himself had uttered a similar sigh when he had talked to his queen about the very same topic this morning.

"Well, I figured as much. We would all be dead by now otherwise." Tsugumi then jokingly said and shrugged.

"So, does this put us in any sort of advantage?" Yahiro then asked the royal couple.

"Many." Was the king's reply. "But the main one being that Da'ath cannot bring the apocalypse anymore. With Inori out of their grasp and her totally unwilling to bring it, they effectively threw away the only thing we really had to be afraid of. They have made a huge mistake when they made Inori Eve."

"Makes you wonder why they did so in the first place…" Jun thought out aloud. "Did they not think that Inori could simply refuse bringing the apocalypse despite being Eve?"

"Perhaps they assumed that she and Shu would be willing, since they are completely fine with each other, unlike how things were before with him and Mana." His older brother continued the thought.

"Or they simply didn't care because the curse of Eve still applies." Suddenly a new voice entered the round as the door opened and Keido walked in, together with Haruka. The brunette woman was quick to find her way over to Shu and Inori, obviously quite delighted to see the pink haired queen finally being awake. She cheerfully ruffled both their hair while saying: "See? I knew everything would be fine." Shu and Inori merely accepted Haruka's antics with a small smile. Even Keido congratulated Inori for her recovery, though still in his usual, stiff way. She thanked him anyway with a small smile. Once that was done, the scientists found their way over to their seats and sat down.

"Sorry for being late. Keido and I were quite absorbed by our latest experiments regarding the Genesis' immunity to poison." Haruka explained to them all to which Shu just shook his head.

"It's alright, you haven't missed much anyway."

"Anyway, as I was saying. Since Eve is cursed to be immortal, Da'ath naturally wouldn't be afraid to let her roam around freely. If worse came to worst, they could simply kill her, then venture into the void realm and get her out again. Since they hold the only gateway to the void realm, they probably feel quite confident about the fact that they wouldn't lose hold of Eve." Keido then told them with his usual serious expression. "The possibility of using Adam as a hostage also increases, since he isn't immortal, unlike Eve."

This statement was followed by Inori clenching her fists angrily. "I absolutely won't allow that to happen."

"Right, with Eve getting empowered by Adam, Da'ath wouldn't be able to easily harm them. As long as they stayed together, they would become a tough opponent to beat." Keido said with a nod. Yahiro followed up to that.

"So, does that mean we should stay on the defense? If Da'ath is out of moves and cannot proceed without getting their hands on either Shu or Inori first, then fortifying our current position and bracing for their attack should be an effective method to cause them some serious problems. If done well, Da'ath's forces would bite their teeth out on our defenses while trying to get to either Shu or Inori. And once they have exhausted their resources, we could go over into the offense and finish them off completely."

Argo objected heavily with a frown. "I disagree. The men are already losing morale by sitting on their asses all day, doing nothing. Each day in which they do nothing is another day they will grow even more restless. You should hear what some of the Undertakers are already saying about you behind your back, Shu. They won't take much more of this waiting game."

The king leaned forward on the table, narrowing his eyes on him. "So what would they have me do instead? Run blindly into Loop Seven? They would just get slaughtered."

"The military offensive was just a couple days ago…I doubt another one will happen soon. Chances of success would be too low without a diversion." Ayase added with folded arms.

"Which means the SDF probably is too busy licking their own wounds right now to interfere. If we charge in with Shu, Inori and the rest of the Genesis as the head of the attack, we could likely raze down the blockade and overwhelm the Mananites. Once those obstacles are gone, all that's left is retaking Tennozu High and we would have effectively freed Tokyo from Da'ath's influence." Argo argued.

"Denied!" Jun suddenly yelled at him. "What kind of madness are you spouting? The regular Undertakers are the ones who want to attack so badly, so why should the Genesis lead the attack? They would only die because of some impatient humans wanting to rush into battle. The Mananite forces are large and dangerous, even if they all behave like savages. They effortlessly pushed back the SDF three times, which also means they have clearly been able to gain some experience defending their turf. Attacking head on like that would mean too many casualties. The Genesis would never agree to march into battle like this."

"Then it's time for these bloody cowards to man the fuck up! This is war! Of course people are going to die!"

"Are you seriously suggesting the Genesis wouldn't know what war is? They had been stuck in one for 5 years!"

"There is another problem with Argo's proposal…" Tsugumi suddenly said, although a lot calmer in comparison, out of hope that it would calm the two men down as well.

"If we can't afford letting Da'ath get a hold of either Shu or Inori, letting them run headfirst into their stronghold might actually be very bad. We waste resources and energy fighting our way through the hordes of Mananites. If Da'ath were to realize our movements, they could simply prepare for the attack and meet our slightly weakened force with their fully prepared one. We would stand at a heavy disadvantage."

"Not to mention what we would do after that." Shu then added. "Let's say we seize Tennozu High…we would still be surrounded by Mananites."

"Once Da'ath falls, some Mananites might actually give up on fighting. In fact, some could actually already have lost interest now that Mana is dead. Still, you can't count on it. If the majority decided to continue fighting until the very end, we might actually end up getting overwhelmed even after having conquered Tennozu. There is no way we would still have the power to withstand them after a fight with Da'ath." Inori decided to share her thoughts on the matter.

"So you all would rather sit here all day and wait for them to come for us?" Argo grumbled, obviously displeased.

"Why not?" Hare finally spoke up, apparently slightly irritated with Argo. "I actually agree with Yahiro's idea. They are in an absolute need for Shu and Inori and can't move forward without them. We can play for time using this. If we focus on defending, we might hold out long enough for the military to try another push. Once that happens, we could attack together and finish them off for good. It's much safer than attacking them headfirst ourselves. We could avoid many casualties that way."

"The not evolved part of the Undertakers won't accept this, though. They feel like they are waiting for their death, doing nothing." Argo merely said. He actually knew that for a fact. If nothing were to change, the Undertakers would not take this lightly. They were pretty much at their limit. You could continue to live in constant fear of death from the apocalypse only this much before you eventually snap.

"What about the Eve blessings?" Yahiro then suddenly threw into the room.

"What about them?" Inori asked him, tilting her head slightly

"You said you couldn't craft them before. How about now that you have become Eve?"

"Naturally. Now that I fully understand my power, I can create them. But since Shu and I don't plan to bring the apocalypse in the first place, they wouldn't be of any use at all."

"I don't think so. See, even if we told the Undertakers that there won't be an apocalypse, they wouldn't simply believe us from our words alone, right? But if we gave them blessings, their anxiety would clearly lessen, because they would know that even if the apocalypse were to come, they wouldn't die."

Argo's eyes widened once he heard that. He immediately got up in excitement. "That's it! That would calm everyone down! If we gave them these blessings, I am positive that they would accept waiting for another opportunity more readily."

"Now hold on just a minute there, young man." Shu's step uncle suddenly piped up among them, causing everyone to shift attention towards him.

"Eve blessings are not meant to be mass produced. It takes Eve quite a lot of time and effort to create just a single one. Supplying a whole terrorist group would take weeks, if not even a month."

"You also can't just simply create fake ones and tell everyone that they were real blessings. All would be fine and well in the beginning, but once someone exposes the lie, the whole human part of the Undertakers would turn against me, Inori and the Genesis." Shu said with a frown, remembering how easy stuff like that could happen from back in the days he still had lead the students of Tennozu. Once they had learned that their voids had also been their lifeline, they had been quick to rebel against him. Such an event had to be prevented at all cost.

"Shu's right. All it would take to prove its genuineness is for someone to die, after all." Haruka agreed. Sure, there was no way to check if the person who had died would have made it to the void realm or not, but it would be suspicious enough if the blessing itself would be left behind. If the crystal showed no reaction even upon death, people would naturally start doubting the object's effect.

"Then let's just start handing them out slowly." Was Jun's suggestion. "If we won't need them anyway since there won't even be an apocalypse, it won't matter if every Undertaker got one or not. They would just have to patiently wait for their turn. And while they wait for their blessings, we actually wait for the military to make another move."

"That should be fine." Argo finally agreed. "As long as we give them something to take their minds off the apocalypse, it would probably work." At the very least it would make Shu and Inori look like they were doing something for them, which should ease everyone's worries a bit. It could make the people put a bit more faith into their leaders, including him.

"Then I suppose it's settled. Unless someone has any objections?" Shu asked them all after Argo had given his approval. No one chose to speak up, causing him to nod in a pleased way, satisfied that they had come to a conclusion which made everyone happy.

"Then I want Argo to bring the first Undertakers here to receive their blessings once Inori has crafted them. Bring the noisiest ones first, so that we take care of them before they create any more trouble. Jun, get some Genesis over here to ensure that there won't be any quarrel going on among the Undertakers who come here. Meanwhile, I will make a quick round through the hideout to check out if there is any trouble going on that needs my attention. Ayase, if you are free right now, tag along and give me a summary of what exactly had happened during the last three days. That is all for now."

"Okay." Everyone agreed in unison and got up to get to work. As Shu was about to go, he noticed Inori looking at him somewhat troubled.

"Is something the matter, Inori?"

She only shook her head slowly. "No, it's nothing. Just…you are going away. It will be the first time being apart from each other since I became Eve."

"The bane of being Eve, is it?" They heard Keido say as he walked past them. "She grows stronger the closer Adam gets, which also means she will weaken if Adam distances himself from her. In actuality Inori would still be more powerful than she was before she became Eve, but the fact that she knows that she would not be at her best while not near you makes her subconsciously believe she gets weak. A truly troublesome state to be in." With these words he simply left the room without a single care in the world. If he hadn't used their names, the royal couple would have thought he had talked to himself rather than them.

The pink haired queen watched him leave and couldn't help but lower her gaze in shame as she realized he was right. If she thought about it logically, she would still be a lot stronger than she was three days ago, even with Shu not near her, yet she would rather remain at his side because it was more pleasant that way. It's not like she would suddenly become helpless without him around, but it still would feel as if he would take something of her with him whenever he left. There was also the stuff Keido had said earlier about Da'ath possibly targeting Shu which subconsciously made her wish he would just remain near her so that she could make sure he would remain safe even though she knew that the hideout was fairly secure. She was aware of the fact that she was overreacting, but she just couldn't help it. This whole Eve stuff was simply overwhelming her right now.

"I see, so that's what it is, huh. Being Eve isn't easy, is it?" Shu asked her with a sympathetic smile. She shook her head again.

"It has its up- and downsides, I guess. It's a part of me now, so I will have to get used to it. Don't worry about me. I will manage somehow."

"I will be back before you know it." He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, causing her to smile.

"I'll be waiting."

"Oi, Romeo. Get a move on already…" Ayase eventually told him with eyes narrowed from annoyance, causing him to get over to her with a defeated sounding sigh.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Don't 'yeah, yeah' me. It was you who told me to come with you."

"I get it already!" With those words, the two brunettes left the room soon afterwards. The king, though, didn't do so without turning around once more to wave his queen good bye. She returned the gesture only to see them leave for good. Her smile immediately turned into a frown once Shu had left her sight. Now she was all alone in the room with Haruka, who had stayed behind for some reason.

"Poor girl. The fairer sex always gets burdened with unnecessary stuff, does it not?" She then told her with an emphatic sigh.

"Were you troubled like this once, too?"

"Is there even a single girl in this world who isn't? The moment you fall in love, you feel like your head ceases to function properly. I imagine this Eve stuff isn't any different. You start worrying over nothing and just want to stay together all the time. Is that it?"

The queen nodded, which earned her a wink from the older woman in return.

"See? Nothing abnormal at all. I was like that with Kurosu, too. He used to laugh at me and call me a worrywart. He found it to be cute, though." She told her with a nostalgic look on her face, but she quickly returned to her usual self again. "From what I have heard from Shuichiro, being Eve might actually not be half bad. Sure, you grow weaker when Shu leaves, but unlike other girls, you can still feel his affection for you even if he isn't there anymore, right? Isn't that kind of comforting? To receive his feelings even if he is not here in person. I know I would have liked it." Haruka said with a gentle smile while patting the queen's head slowly and comfortingly.

That's when Inori realized that Haruka was right. Yes, she could feel her power leaving her body the more Shu went away, but at the same time, she still could feel his warm feelings for her reaching her even from far away. If you looked at it that way, it wasn't even a real downside, but actually an upside. After all, as long as she would still be able to receive his feelings, she basically knew that he was alright and near enough for her to reach him if needed to. Her worries suddenly eased up.

"Thank you." She told the brunette woman with a relieved smile. "I feel much better now."

"Don't mention it, dear. I got to watch out for you kids, after all. You two would be hopeless without me." Haruka then decided to put her hands on each of her hips while holding her head high in pride.

"Besides, it looks like you are going to be family soon, so we girls better start working together to keep that son of mine in check." She added with a playful wink. Inori, however, couldn't help but look at Haruka with wide eyes.

"Family?" Naturally, she was shocked. She never really had one before. There had only been Gai once, and he was gone. Could she actually get a new one? A proper one?

"Of course, dear. Or did you think you would be able to get rid of me after taking my little Shu from me? I won't hand him over just like that, you know." She told him with a small pout, but got taken aback by the younger woman suddenly hugging her.

"You are too kind, Haruka. Just like Shu." Inori said rather happily. That was right. If she stayed with Shu, she would actually gain a family. She couldn't believe she had only realized this now.

"My, my. I wish Shu was this straightforward with me, too." Haruka jokingly said as she put her arms around Inori as well. "I can't believe my future daughter-in-law would be such a cute one. No wonder Shu fell head over heels for you. He's quite the lucky boy, isn't he?"

The pink haired queen only shook her head slowly. "The lucky one is me."

Haruka gently broke away and grinned at her. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Shu can be quite a brat at times. You might actually regret being with him quite soon."

She frowned at her with eyes radiating with defiance. "Never."

The older woman couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. "As I said, lucky Shu. Anyway, I better get back into the lab. I can't keep all the fun to Shuichiro alone now, can I?"

Inori nodded at that. "I should get to work, too." There were blessings to craft, after all.

"Alright, then I guess I will be going now. Stay strong, girl. You can come to me whenever you need something, don't forget that." Haruka ruffled her hair playfully as she passed her by to get to the door.

"Don't be afraid to pay Mama Haruka a visit, okay?"

"I will. And I will bring Shu as well."

"That would be lovely, dear. He barely spends his time with me anymore now that he has you. If you bring him along, I at least will get to see his face once in a while." The grin the brunette woman offered her caused Inori to smile as well. She gave her a polite bow as she left.

"Sorry for selfishly taking Shu all for myself."

"It's alright, it's alright. I am a generous woman. I can share. At least until I get to see cute, little grandchildren, that is. You can keep Shu to yourself, then."

"Ah, that might probably take a while…" Inori couldn't help but say with a somewhat troubled expression.

"You are in luck that I am also a patient woman, then." Haruka added with a wink. Then she opened the door. And with a final "Bye-bye." she left at last.

A pleasant sigh escaped Inori's lips. That had been quite a nice talk, if you asked her. Thanks to this, her mood was actually quite good. She didn't mind at all that she was left all alone for the time being. Rather than minding that, she actually found herself full of excitement to finally make use of her new gained improved control over crystals and their creation. She couldn't wait to put the theories she had learned during her sleep into practice. Things she had previously struggled with should now become clear to her. This could possibly be quite some fun.

She went over to the round table and sat down on her seat, unable to withhold the excited grin that now emerged on her face. Holding both her hands in front of her, she noticed the enormous power that actually rested inside them for the first time since becoming Eve. These hands which were meant to destroy the world would create beautiful things instead, she thought. This power of hers, it would do good things for the world, starting with the creation of her blessings.

Her eyes turned into a state of deep concentration as small shards of crystals started appearing between her hands out of thin air, slowly starting to construct what their mistress asked them to create. With gentle movements, she guided the small pieces to follow her will. She was pleased once she realized that, unlike before, she knew exactly what she was doing here. None of her movements were obsolete, none of her thoughts unnecessary. She was in complete control.

Once the base for the blessing had been created and things started to become more complicated, her eyes suddenly began to glow red with her gaze appearing to become even more concentrated. Now she appeared to look even deeper into the crystal shards floating between her palms. She was forming, engraving even the smallest things into them, sometimes multiple details at the same time. As the crystalline objects became more and more complex, they, too, started to glow faintly. She couldn't wait to see how they would look once she would combine all the components into the final blessing at the end of the working progress.

This was it, she thought excitedly. This was the way her power had always been supposed to be used.

This was actually fun.

It took her about an hour of creating, engraving, combining and repeating that process countless times. Jun had returned in the meantime with a couple of Genesis to ensure this place's safety in case of some rebellious Undertakers making a fuss, but Inori had been so focused on her work, she hadn't even noticed them. Not even when Jun had called her name had she actually responded. Only once she had completed her very fist handcrafted blessing, had she finally allowed herself to come out of her trance-like state.

The result had been astonishing. A small, crystalline and multicolored wildflower-shaped blessing rested in her hands, glowing faintly in the multitude of its colors. The queen's eyes beheld the small object with pride and delight as the glow in her eyes vanished and they instead reflected the flower's colorful sheen.

"Pretty." She graded her own work contently, quite happy with the way it had turned out.

"It's beautiful." Jun agreed, having found his way over after he had heard his queen utter the first word she had said in a whole hour.

"It would look even better if Shu was here." Inori told him honestly. If she had been allowed to put in even more of her power, it would have undoubtedly turned out even prettier. It kind of made her wish he would come back soon so that she could create another, even more beautiful one. She wondered what he would think about her creation.

The very next moment, the door opened. But in came not a certain brunette king, but Argo with a very displeased looking Undertaker trailing behind him.

"This better be no joke, Argo." He appeared to be continuing his conversation with the former SDF soldier which they must have held prior to entering.

"I am telling you the truth. The effect of that crystal has been confirmed by Inori and an informant we have managed to get inside Da'ath."

"Do you have proof?"

"How am I supposed to prove this? Do you want to die and find out?"

"Hmph, so you want me to start believing in empty words now?"

Inori thought the man was kind of rude, but since she still was in a good mood, she took the blessing she just crafted and held it in front of her proudly once Argo and his follower came to her.

"Don't worry. It will work." Is what she told him with nothing but honesty in her words. "I guarantee it."

"It better does." The rude Undertaker said as he grabbed the blessing Inori offered him. He eyed it critically from all sides, clearly suspecting it of being a fraud.

"That's it? This weird thing is supposed to save us all from the apocalypse?" He asked them disbelievingly.

"That's the point in which you would normally say 'Thank you'..." Inori then said with narrowed eyes, now clearly feeling her irritation with this man getting the better of her.

"Thank you? This is the least you should do, given the fact that you were the reason Shu cancelled the mission to attack Loop Seven in the first place. It was all your fault."

The pink haired queen tried to remain calm, but could clearly feel something hot starting to rise up inside her. "If you have a problem with me, you are free to leave that blessing here and go away. I am sure that there are others who would be way more grateful for it than you are anyway…"

The middle aged man in front of her looked infuriated at her attitude, but before he could reply, he saw Jimmy and Juan position themselves in front of Inori protectively. They had been among the small group of Genesis that had come with Jun to make sure there would be no trouble. The remaining Genesis also glared at him from all sides, clearly unnerving him further.

"I think you should leave now…" It was Jun who eventually spoke out the words every one of them had had on their minds at this very moment. His voice sounded cold and venomous. There was a lot of danger hiding in it, almost giving the rude Undertaker the impression of hearing the ominous hiss of a poisonous snake ready to attack its prey. He visibly paled and stepped back.

"Damn Genesis scum…always thinking they are better than us. Fine, I am outta here. I already got what I came here for anyway…"

Everyone just stood and watched as the impolite Undertaker hastily made his retreat with the blessing he had received. Once he had run out of the door, they all visibly relaxed.

"I am really sorry about all this." Argo was quick to apologize while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "But Shu had said to bring the most troublesome ones first, so…"

"It's fine…" The queen said with a tired sigh as she turned around again to sit down on the round table once more. "Bring the next one in another hour…"

"Very well." The former SDF soldier had barely said that when he was already halfway out of the room.

Once he was gone, the younger Samukawa brother walked up to his queen with a troubled expression as he watched her start working on another blessing.

"Are you still going to make blessings, Inori?"

Without diverting her attention from her current task, she replied: "Of course. That's what we agreed on, was it not?"

"But your grace, that imbecile was not worthy of receiving such a generous gift from you." Another one of the Genesis chose to object.

"Perhaps not, but it would be wrong to deny all the other ones a chance just because one of them was a jerk." She told them calmly, impressing everyone with her ability to move on without having hard feelings. As expected of their kind queen. They returned to their post while feeling nothing but pride for her.

Unbeknown to them that in truth, the queen, deep down, actually felt very upset right about now. It hadn't been fair at all. She had put a lot of time and effort into creating that blessing. It had been meant to make people who received it happy, so why? Why couldn't he just have accepted it in gratitude? Why did he have to say all these mean things? She did not understand. She did not understand at all.

Her eyes began to glow again as she fully concentrated on creating a new and hopefully appreciated blessing, trying to push all unnecessary thoughts aside. But it didn't seem to work as well as before. Her mood had already deteriorated and that caused her mind to somewhat remain cloudy instead of becoming clear. Thus the process became slower and needed more time to finish. In an attempt to improve her mood again, she tried to concentrate on the pleasant and gentle feelings she could still receive from Shu, but even that had been unable to cheer her up completely. Some negativity remained.

She realized that the excitement and happiness she had felt before had all simply vanished. The smile she had worn earlier while creating her blessing had turned into a frown instead. This wasn't how she had expected things to be.

It wasn't fun at all anymore.


	17. Once more into the fray

**17\. Once more into the fray**

Meanwhile, quite far away from the terrorist hideout, in front of a high class mansion, a certain white coated young man emerged out of a strange, power surging portal that had appeared out of nowhere and closed as fast as it had appeared. That man was no one else but Da'ath's notorious envoy.

He frowned as he caught his balance after exiting another one of the teleportation portals of the twins. He liked their voids. They were pretty useful with their ability to teleport anything they touched to somewhere they have previously been to or call fourth anything they have once touched immediately to where they currently were at with the exception of people. The fact that they could even transfer ailments from one person to the other was incredible, too, but he figured that he would just never get used to the way their teleportation worked.

Unlike his own way of teleportation, which was a gentle, fluid transportation from one point to the next, theirs was rather violent and chaotic. Where his own method would feel as if his consciousness would slowly shift into his desired location, the twin's method felt as if he was being torn apart, thrown into a vortex of madness only to be spit out and reassembled roughly at the end of his journey. It was not unlike the one time he had traveled into the void realm, which had treated him somewhat similar during his trip…only that the void realm at least had had the decency to not make him feel like he was torn to shreds in the most violent fashion possible.

He sighed exhaustedly. Well, it had one advantage over his own teleportation. It was faster, way faster. Instead of sending his consciousness all the way over to the place he wanted to be, the twin's void would just throw him to said location in an instant, even if it was rather brutal. He figured the lack of comfort was a price he would have to pay if he preferred speed over pleasant traveling. Still, using the void gloves proved to be quite a strain to the person being sent, so he figured he would use them rather sparingly in the future. Even he, the envoy of Da'ath, was afraid he would eventually develop a trauma of some sorts if he were to keep using them without restraint.

But anyway, that was not the problem right now.

He looked around him to see that he was in front of the entrance of the Kuhouin mansion. Just where he had planned to emerge. A few of Arisa's bodyguards spotted him, but since they knew him, they didn't look all that alarmed about his presence. One of them chose to approach him.

"Good day, sir. You are punctual as ever." He greeted him.

"Naturally, since I am the envoy of Da'ath. Anything less would throw a bad light on our organization." Yuu replied rather casually with a small wave of the hand, as if he wanted to push the matter aside quickly. "More importantly, is Miss Kuhouin ready to see me?"

"She is waiting for you in her home office, sir. Do you want me to show you the way?"

"Not necessary. I know the way."

With that being said, the blond man merely buried his hands inside the pockets of his white coat and went ahead, leaving the guards behind him. Walking through the entrance that was held open for him by two guards, he left the huge entrance hall behind him, followed by navigating through some corridors and making his way past some impressive looking furniture. Eventually, he found his way to the second floor of the mansion. Passing some more security guards, he then, at long last, found himself in front of the impressively decorated double doors which would lead to Arisa's office. He cleared his throat and knocked. He didn't have to wait long to hear said woman's "Come in." before he decided to heed her words and open the doors in front of him.

Inside he found the woman in question sitting at her desk at the other end of the room. He also spotted an unfamiliar, young, black haired man standing beside her, only to realize that he might have actually seen him once or twice before. Thinking about it, wasn't he one of her employees who kept trailing behind her at times? He didn't think he ever caught the guy's name. What was he doing here anyway? Well, whatever. First things first.

"Greetings, Miss Kuhouin. Thanks for making time for me." He started a conversation and offered the young lady in front of him a polite bow. He then eyed the man next to her to make his curiosity obvious enough.

The man in question flinched slightly at his analyzing stare, but Arisa remained cool.

"This is Souta Tamadate and he is my assistant working for my company." She explained calmly.

"I see. I thought your branch in Tokyo was temporarily closed, what is he doing here?"

"I have recruited him into our ranks, so I am busy making him catch up on the current situation."

The envoy frowned in a displeased fashion. "All Da'ath initiates usually have to be approved by me first, you know? There are things you have to consider, backgrounds to check, loyalty to prove,…"

"I already did that. He's clean. Have a look for yourself." The blonde woman merely opened one of the drawers on her desk to take out and hand him a dossier which he accepted from her after a bit of hesitation.

"Hey you can't just hand out documents containing personal information to other people. Oi, where did you even get that?" Came the objections from Souta once he saw the dossier's contents. There were documents of him in there he didn't even know existed in the first place. What the hell?

Ignoring him, Yuu just kept going through the documents one by one. He did so with a rather bored expression, until he found something he thought to be interesting.

"Student of Tennozu High, huh? Same class as your boss was, too. Say, you wouldn't happen to know Ouma Shu now, do you?" He asked him with an amused smirk.

Souta, though awfully nervous, managed to reply quickly: "W-well, yeah. Everybody from Tennozu knew Shu. He's my friend."

"Hoh? Friend you say?" They heard the envoy chuckle. "How interesting, given the fact that your boss doesn't seem to like him all that much." He threw a knowing smirk into Arisa's direction, only to receive a glare from her in return as she folded her arms in front of her angrily.

"That's just because he doesn't know everything there is to know yet. Once he sees the full picture, he will understand." She explained angrily.

"Or we might all actually end up putting our differences away as mere misunderstandings and make up again." Souta chose to add while scratching the back of his head and averting his gaze from his boss, knowing fully well that she would definitely send an evil glare his way.

Yuu kept looking at these two in front of him with that wide smirk of his.

"My, my. Looks like it might actually be the princess who will end up understanding something she has failed to understand for so long."

"And what would that be?" Arisa chose to ask rather arrogantly.

"I wonder." Yuu merely decided to respond with a pleased expression. He closed the dossier and handed it back to her. "He passes. Welcome to Da'ath, Mr. Tamadate." He told him with a warm smile.

"I'll be in your care." Souta quickly reacted by tensing up, followed by offering the envoy a quick bow.

"Normally I would have to explain some things to you now, but I suppose Miss Kuhouin will do that in my stead." He threw a questioning look her way only to receive a nod from her.

"Naturally, I have already started doing so anyway."

"Then I suppose I will leave it to you." He chuckled again as he watched the man in question hastily grabbing the dossier from his boss' hands and checking it out for himself with a shocked expression. In all honesty, Yuu wasn't completely convinced about this man's loyalty towards Da'ath but he was willing to overlook his doubts for now in favor of seeing how this would develop. This Souta Tamadate fellow might have a use or two in the future. And if he proves to be bad news, he could always remove him at a later date.

"Seriously? There are even pictures of chicks I tried to go out with in here…what the hell?" Souta exclaimed disbelievingly as he continued viewing the files in the dossier.

"Da'ath always does their homework, Mr Tamadate. Since you were one of Miss Kuhouin's employees, we naturally had to perform a throughout background check to ensure she would only work with people who weren't secretly aiming to harm her." Yuu explained, slightly amused about the man's reactions.

"Does that mean you gathered that much data about everyone in the company?" He couldn't help but ask the envoy, looking completely baffled. It was an internationally present company with millions of employees worldwide. Gathering information about every single one of them would honestly be quite an accomplishment.

"Of course. This much is nothing for Da'ath." The envoy said proudly. Souta turned pale once he had heard that. 'Nothing' he had said. The envoy continued from there:

"We cannot afford even a single spy to infiltrate our organization, which is why we are always very careful. Say, Mr. Tamadate, you aren't a spy by any chance, are you?" Yuu then decided to ask with a playful smirk.

"A-a spy, sir? Me? No way. Who in their right mind would choose me to spy on other people? They would have to be idiots!" Souta hastily answered, trying to hide his rather obvious nervousness.

"Hm, is that so?" Yuu scratched his chin, thinking while still smirking.

Arisa chose to sigh at this farce. "Would you please stop teasing Souta now, Yuu? He is telling the truth. He would make such a lousy spy that no one in their right mind would hire him."

"Those are the ones you have to be especially careful of, Miss Kuhouin. The best spies will attempt to appear like lousy ones most of the time to avoid suspicion." He enjoyed the display of Souta starting to sweat like crazy due to his nervousness, but then decided to give the man a break by letting go of him with a carefree shrug. He was just teasing him, after all. There was no way of him knowing if Arisa's assistant really was a spy, even though the possibility was there. But even if it were so, Souta wouldn't have been the first one and he certainly wouldn't be the last one to attempt spying them out. If Souta would end up becoming bothersome, he would deal with him, but until that happened, he would leave him alone. He had bigger things to worry about, after all.

"I appreciate the warning, even though I am convinced of Souta's incompetence." Was all Arisa had to say while leaning back on her chair. Her statement was accompanied by a tired sigh.

"Hey!" Souta objected angrily.

"Such harsh words. Weren't you the one who made him your assistant in the first place?" Yuu decided to ask, amusedly.

"Yeah, though that was because he has other qualities."

"I see."

"Leaving Souta aside for now, I wonder what it was you wanted to tell me so urgently. It has to be quite important, considering how I couldn't get in touch with you all day yesterday."

The smirk on Yuu's face disappeared in an instant once the topic changed to the thing he had come to tell her in the first place.

"About that…I am afraid I bring bad news."

Arisa frowned at that. Leaning forward onto the bridge her hands now formed by resting in front of her on the desk, she asked:

"How bad?"

"Not that bad for Da'ath as a whole, but especially bad for you, I suppose."

"So I assume this is about Mana, Gai or both of them?"

"I am afraid so."

"Don't tell me she actually managed to let go of her mad obsession for Shu and made Gai her Adam?" she asked him with a doubtful look. The envoy couldn't help but notice the irony here. Just who was this woman calling mad and obsessive? Had she tried looking in the mirror recently?

"Impressive guess. That was one of the things that happened yesterday." He told her calmly. Well, technically, that had happened the day before yesterday, but there was no need to sweat the details.

"One of the things? So there is more?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Indeed, there is. Following his ascension as Adam, Tsutsugami Gai then proceeded to demand from me that I handed over one of the crowns I possessed. Since I had no other choice but to refuse him, he chose to grab Eve, rally a small army of Genesis and marched to Yokohama, where he made contact with no one else but Ouma Shu and Yuzuriha Inori, apparently attempting to take his remaining crown by force." He continued his explanation calmly, not even flinching when he saw the woman in front of him standing up abruptly, slamming both her hands on the desk loudly with eyes opened wide from shock.

"He what?"

"They went to fight Shu and Inori?" This time, even Souta couldn't help but join in on the conversation.

"Once I noticed his hasty movements, I immediately set out with another army of Genesis to provide backup, however, despite trying to reach him the fastest way we could, we were still too late."

"Too late? Does that mean they captured them?" Arisa asked in bewilderment. The envoy was impressed by the blonde's optimism.

"Unfortunately not. Despite the feints and tactics Gai chose to deploy, he ended up getting overpowered by Shu and Inori. The lack of a crown proved to be too fatal a disadvantage for him to compensate for. He has fallen in combat, slain by Ouma Shu. I am sorry."

"…impossible…!" He and Souta watched Arisa slowly sinking back into her chair, looking at the envoy in absolute disbelief. "This cannot be."

"Sadly, that is what happened. We managed to retrieve his body. I've got pictures of it, if you really don't believe me, though looking at them isn't very pleasant." Yuu took out a small stack of photos from one of his pockets, only to have Arisa take them off him almost immediately. She and Souta looked at them in horror while Arisa kept going through them. The more she watched, the more she could feel the strength in her arms leave her. One by one, the photos eventually fell to the floor, followed by the blonde looking down on them with empty eyes.

"But…this is wrong….he was supposed to become king…" They could hear her mumble quietly and disbelievingly, a sad display for a woman who usually radiated nothing but confidence and authority. Right now she had effectively been reduced into a picture of misery.

"How cruel…did…did Shu really do this?" Souta couldn't help but ask while picking up the pictures off the floor. He knew how Gai was supposed to look like from the worldwide broadcasts he had done 5 years ago, but the figure shown to him on these photos…to even say that there was a face left to look at was a huge overstatement. There was nothing to see aside from a bloody mess. Whatever had happened to the fallen blond man, it must have been quite brutal.

"He did. I don't know what had made him so angry at him, but it must have been quite something, won't you agree? After all, you must be quite infuriated to do something this…violent."

"Something must be wrong…I've seen Shu at his worst and he never had been someone capable of doing something like that…" Not even when he had gotten Hare killed had Shu been this angry at him. Also, despite being angry with Arisa, he had agreed to let her go. Souta couldn't bring himself to believe that Shu would do all that only to become a furious killer all of a sudden. Unless, maybe…

"Did something happen to Inori, perhaps?"

Yuu and Arisa looked at him with very different expressions. While the envoy was slightly surprised as well as impressed about Souta's sharpness, his boss only glared at him as if he had just said the unthinkable.

"Who cares what had happened to that monster? This is unforgivable…how dare they kill Gai? I will see to it that this abomination and her lover will be purged from the face of the world." The blonde businesswoman then declared angrily. However, Yuu was quick to object.

"You can't do that, Miss Kuhouin."

"And why is that? Just give me a single reason why I shouldn't seek out revenge!" She dared him by grabbing him by his collar. Wow, she really must have been angry if she was losing her cool that much.

"Because your assistant is right, something really did happen to Inori Yuzuriha. The being you described as an abomination has become the true Eve and her lover is now Adam." He told her calmly, not even minding her outburst at him.

She immediately let go of him, followed by staring at him as if she had seen a ghost. "W-what? Are you serious?"

"Wait a second. Arisa, you said Shu's sister was Eve and that no one could take the title from her no matter what…" Souta mumbled in confusion, trying to keep up with the sudden rush of new information.

"It was supposed to be impossible…how could she have…?" Arisa put both her hands on each side of her head, apparently trying to understand this mess herself. Nothing the envoy told her made any sense. Gai was dead? Inori had become Eve? This was all wrong. It wasn't supposed to happen! If Inori was Eve, she couldn't do anything anymore. Leaving aside the problem that she was a member of Da'ath who was supposed to work with Eve, even if she were to get her hands on Inori, she was still immortal.

"Following Tsutsugami Gai's death, Ouma Mana appeared to have completely lost her mind. Consumed by grief, she became dead set on destroying everything around her. Despite my efforts to calm her down, she refused to listen. It was because of that, that Da'ath finally lost their last shred of patience with her. Deeming her a failure, I was tasked to try transferring the queen's crown from her over to Inori Yuzuriha. I ended up succeeding."

"What? But…how?"

"Apparently, her status as a fake Eve enabled her to become the real one due to her superiority over Mana. The irregularity in the system made it possible."

"Ridiculous!" Arisa was forced to sit again. Her head hurt and she felt dizzy. This was just way too much for her to handle all at once. "How could this…" She kept looking up at the ceiling with an absent minded and pained expression, causing the remaining men to look at each other in a rather uncomfortable manner. This turned out to be quite hopeless indeed and that realization in return made her feel powerless. It had been bad enough that these imbeciles had dared to kill Gai in cold blood which already sent her heart into turmoil, but now she couldn't even act on these overwhelming feelings of rage and despair by seeking revenge.

If Inori had truly become Eve, Arisa couldn't do anything anymore…her hands would be effectively tied. Leaving aside the problem that she was a member of Da'ath who was supposed to work with Eve, even if she were to find a way to get her hands on Inori without them finding out, it would do her little good for she was still immortal. And if Arisa went after Shu who was her Adam instead…? She probably wouldn't even get to enjoy the satisfaction of having killed Shu before she would get torn to shreds by that furious monster that had now managed to become Eve. Inori had been strong before…Arisa shuddered to imagine how much more her strength had grown now that she had claimed Mana's title. So, was this it? Had she been forced out of all her moves? Maybe it really was hopeless.

Souta and Yuu merely stood and stared at her in silence while she just sat there motionlessly like a robot that had ceased to function. Her dark haired assistant was even clicking his fingers in front of her face without getting any reaction out of her. Wherever Arisa's mind had started wandering off to, it clearly would not come back soon. At least that was the impression Souta got from looking at her.

"Perhaps it would be best to leave Miss Kuhouin alone for a while, wouldn't you agree?" The envoy eventually decided to say and gestured for Souta to follow him as he made his way out of the room. The dark haired man did so after a bit of hesitation.

"Will she be okay, though? She looks as if she has a mental breakdown or something. I am quite worried." He told him truthfully and took another glance at his boss before reluctantly closing the door behind him.

"Well, I kind of expected things to turn out that way. She was a very strong supporter of Tsutsugami Gai. However, she is a strong willed woman, so I am sure she will get a hold of herself. Sometimes you will have to shoulder certain setbacks, even in a huge organization such as Da'ath." He told him while making his way back into the entry hall with Souta following him around. The envoy frowned, apparently deep in thought, but since Souta was walking behind him, he didn't notice.

Well, it was just as he had said. Either Arisa would get a hold of herself and let her hatred for Ouma Shu become her new drive to push forward in place for Gai, or if nothing worked, he would have to clone Gai again and make that become the reason for Arisa to continue supporting Da'ath. Though he wasn't sure how he would pull off the cloning process in the first place, given his lack of resources and necessary technology. Sephira Genomics was no more, after all.

If only Nanba hadn't been such a numb nut, things wouldn't have become as complicated as they had eventually turned out to be. According to the contract between Da'ath and Arisa, the latter would continue to allow the former to hide behind the name of her big company provided that Da'ath would ensure Gai's and her company's wellbeing. Nanba's actions could be considered a breach of contract, so Yuu couldn't have simply told her the truth and risked her to end their partnership because of that.

The truth was, finding a name to hide a huge organization behind was actually quite hard a thing to do in Japan where most big companies had already perished due to the crash in economy during Lost Christmas. Losing Arisa's support would not necessarily mean the end for Da'ath in Japan, but certainly wasn't something the secret organization could shoulder lightly.

That's why he had been willing to shift the blame over to Shu temporarily as long as it kept Arisa on Da'ath's side. True, her wasting resources to seek revenge against him would be counterproductive, given the fact that Shu and Inori had become Adam and Eve, thus becoming their allies in bringing the apocalypse, but it was still better than her turning against Da'ath completely.

Sometimes all you could do was minimizing the damage, and that was what he intended to do. For now, he would let Shu and Inori deal with Arisa while he prepared the next step in the plan. There simply was no other alternative right now. At least none of which he could think of.

Next to the envoy, Souta also appeared to be lost in thought. So many things had been happening all at once lately. The return of the apocalypse virus, the lockdown of Tokyo, the appearance of the void freaks, which he later learned were called Genesis, him joining Da'ath in order to spy on them, Arisa feeding him all sorts of crazy information and now all of this.

He had been fairly confident that he would be able to do his job well while also keeping Arisa away from Shu and the rest, but now with it looking as if he had killed that guy Arisa seemed to have idolized, a direct conflict seemed to be unavoidable.

What could he do? He needed to stop her from engulfing herself into thoughts of revenge, but that had already been a hard task even before Shu had been put into the position of a ruthless murderer.

"It will be troublesome if Arisa goes after Shu now…" Yuu caught him thinking out aloud.

"True, but since she also is a member of Da'ath and Shu is Adam, she at least can't go fight him openly without coming in conflict with Da'ath, so it should be more or less fine."

"That will just mean she will do it secretly, won't she?"

"Most likely, she was the type to do things that way to begin with."

Souta couldn't help but agree with the envoy. Arisa excelled in the act of getting things done in the shadows. Her coup d'état back in Loop Seven had been done in secret and the trap she had set for Shu when he had returned from the void realm had been her doing as well, or so he had heard. If Arisa were to strike again, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to see it coming, which also meant that he couldn't really help preventing it.

"How troublesome." He then groaned while ruffling his own hair in frustration. Yuu chuckled at him.

"You are quite the interesting individual, do you know that?" They had reached the entrance hall, so the envoy came to a halt and faced the dark haired man directly.

"Why's that?"

"I can't quite figure out whose side you are on. In the reports I read just now, it said you protected your boss from Ouma Shu, even showing willingness to shoot him if needed. Yet you also try so hard to prevent her from doing him any harm, too. What is your goal, I wonder?"

"I just want everyone to get along. I am sick and tired of all this meaningless conflict."

"Then I am afraid your goal is a futile one. Conflicts existed since the dawn of humankind and they will continue to exist until the last man on earth has drawn his last breath. It's in the human nature to fight each other, just as it is in their nature to love each other. Therefore, your wish to an end to all conflicts is naïve." The envoy simply said.

"Is it that hopeless?" Souta asked in a very defeated sounding tone. He must have realized the difficulty in achieving his goal as well. After all, all his efforts so far amounted to nothing more than a drop in the ocean. A very interesting idea then suddenly entered the envoy's mind. Maybe he could use this fellow to make Arisa lose her interest in seeking revenge? That certainly would make things easier for him. That's why he then said:

"Only if you keep on doing it the way you have been doing it until now. Trying to end the conflict between Ouma Shu and Kuhouin Arisa by trying to turn their hatred for each other into friendship is a plan which is doomed to fail, because the line between hatred and love is quite slim. It doesn't take much to change one into another. This is proven by the fact that they had both been friends once, only to become mortal enemies from one moment to the next. Even if you were to succeed in making them befriend each other again, the resulting peace would undeniably be a rather short lived one before they turn back to being enemies. With the past both of them share with each other, any form of friendship would only be built on an unstable fundament."

"So what would you have me try instead? If making them friends again is not an option, what is? Killing one of them?" Souta then asked with eyes narrowed down from suspicion. What was the envoy trying to suggest here?

"Well, killing one of them would naturally end the conflict between them, but both of them are valuable to Da'ath and can't be afforded to get disposed of that easily. Rather than killing one, why not eliminate the reason for their conflict?"

"The reason?" Souta perked up his ears. Was the envoy onto something?

"Ouma Shu detests Kuhouin Arisa because she betrayed him and joined Da'ath in order to be closer to Tsutsugami Gai, whom she adored. Arisa continues to hate Shu because he kept getting in the way of Gai becoming king. However, with Shu forced to join Da'ath sooner or later himself, together with his queen, and Gai now dead, though unfortunate in its outcome, a new option presents itself, does it not?" Yuu eventually offered him, grinning somewhat amusedly.

"That being?"

The envoy suppressed a sigh and shook his head at Souta's slowness. That man appeared to be somewhat sharp at times, yet awfully dim witted at the very next moment.

"You tried reaching the opposite state of hatred, did you not? However, you were incorrect in your assumption that the opposite of hatred was love when the actual opposite of both, love and hatred is actually indifference. So, if Arisa's drive to hate Shu was mainly her affection for Gai, what would happen if someone else took his place? If someone were to manage shifting her attention to them over from Gai, the blonde princess would naturally not have to focus on her former crush as much. If her focus on Gai dwindled, so would likely the hatred she feels for Shu. Her time and energy would likely be spent trying to get closer to her new center of attention, rather than wasting it on former goals. Are you following me?"

Souta's eyes widened for a second in realization. He looked at the envoy as if he was about to cheer "Eureka!" at him. He never had considered that possibility. It sounded far more likable to succeed than everything he had been trying to do up until now. One problem remained, though.

"That's actually quite brilliant, but where to find such a guy?" He then proceeded to lift his right hand to his chin as he assumed a heavy-thinking-posture. His eyes fell on the envoy.

"I heard from Arisa that you wield the void genome, so you are a king, right? Arisa was quite obsessed with Gai because he was a king once, was she not? Maybe…"

The envoy was quick to grimace at his line of thought and sighed. Honestly, he had never seen a man before who would have first thought of someone else before even considering himself for the position they were talking about right now. He obviously did not have time to stick around, trying to charm that certain ice princess, so he would rather have someone else do it instead.

"You appear to have gotten it quite backwards. It was not his crown that had made Gai attractive for your boss. Rather, it was his charm that made her want helping him to ascend the throne. Tsutsugami Gai was a man who held a lot of charisma and was versed in the way of using words to his advantage. If being a king was all it took, she might as well have started fawning over Ouma Shu instead of betraying him in the first place." He tried to explain to him.

"If that's the case, why don't we just do something about your hair and get you some nice clothes? You already have that kinda pretty-boy's face, so it might work."

Yuu rolled his eyes at him. Maybe he had to be a bit more direct.

"Say, have you never considered yourself to be a candidate as well? Is she not you type?"

Souta only stared at him for a few seconds, his expression quite baffled. Once he caught himself again, he proceeded to shake his head, accompanied by a heavy sigh.

"Dude, you must be dreaming. I've been working for her for years and never got out of the pet-zone. She is way outta my league. I am not the guy who's opposed to try aiming high, but if I am willing to reach for the clouds, Arisa would be the stars."

"Huh, how weird. Your confidence is quite low. Is it because you tried courting Yuzuriha Inori once and failed?" Yuu tried to find out from him with a questioning look. Souta winced at that. Sure, pal, just put salt into old wounds. Did he get that from the reports as well? It was true, though, that his confidence had suffered a bit during the years. Every girl he had tried to charm in the last 5 years had barely even given him the light of day. He had recently started to think that he just was a hopeless case. He just wasn't the brave, cool kinda guy like Shu was or the smart and smooth one like Yahiro.

"You shouldn't let past failures keep you down, Mr. Tamadate. Your fruitless efforts with Yuzuriha Inori were unavoidable given your rival. However, I would deem your chances with Miss Kuhouin quite probable. After all, she even went as far as to get you inside Da'ath. You probably didn't know, but normally, you wouldn't be able to just drag anyone into the organization just like that. People actually get killed if they carelessly let outsiders know about Da'ath. She took quite a risk, gambling on the fact that she was quite a big shot in our organization. You must hold some value to her if she was willing to go that far for you, don't you think?"

This got Souta actually thinking. Now that he mentioned it, Arisa really had been dragging him around to everywhere she went, even if he couldn't possibly have been useful in any way. Like with the time he had went with her to Tennozu High. He couldn't really remember all that much from the trip anymore for some reason, but he was certain he hadn't contributed to anything worth mentioning. He had always wondered why Arisa wanted him around so much. Maybe she actually did like his presence like Yuu suggested?

"Ridiculous…" He shook his head harshly. It was foolish to allow himself to get his hopes up now. He would just waste his efforts only to crash against the harsh and unforgiving wall of rejection in the end. He had been there before, so he knew exactly what he was talking about here.

"If you really think that, then I guess it can't be helped. It was just an idea anyway." Yuu then decided to tell him with a shrug. It didn't really matter if Souta would try to win Arisa over or not. If he would, great. One problem less. If not, then Yuu would just have to leave it to Shu and Inori themselves to handle her. Either way, he didn't think Arisa would create that big of a problem.

As he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly heard Souta ask: "…You really think I could manage?"

"I don't see why not. Miss Kuhoin isn't as tough a nut to crack as she lets others believe. Now that the main pillar of her confidence has crumbled, she should be especially vulnerable. If you asked me, I would say: Go for it. If you are stuck in the 'pet-zone' anyway, as you have put it, then what could you possibly lose? She can't simply fire you anymore, now that you have joined Da'ath and there shouldn't be a single of these 'zones' below the pet-zone in which you could drop even further in your relationship. You literally have nothing to lose and everything to gain." He told him in a rather bored sounding manner, obviously not thinking of this whole deal as being a huge deal.

He simply thought Souta was just worrying too much. How hard could it be to win a lonely woman such as Arisa over? People were social creatures and thus wouldn't want to be alone. Since Arisa didn't have any friends, she simply couldn't afford pushing Souta away. Especially now that she was pretty much forced to finally let go of her stupid obsession for Tsutsugami Gai. Even if she were to hold on to her fruitless feelings for Gai and deny Souta in the end, she would still have to keep him around as her only friend. In Yuu's opinion, the dark haired man stood at a position in which he could do whatever he wanted without having to fear failure at all. Even the worst possible outcome would still only mean that nothing would change. He really should be a bit more confident. Maybe he just needed a little extra push.

"You know what the best thing about it is? This time, you have no rivals, unlike last time. Tsutsugami Gai is dead, leaving Miss Kuhouin all to you. So it doesn't really matter that you aren't very charming or good with words. Just being yourself will suffice, I suppose." It was not like Arisa had much of a choice anyway. It was either take it or keep being alone. Souta may have not been a Prince Charming or something of that sort, but at least he genuinely cared about her. If she were to reject him, she would probably have to keep looking for a long time before someone similar would pop up again.

"You have a point…" Souta had to agree. This could actually be the only chance in his life he would ever get. Arisa was far from a bad match. She was a cool beauty who treated him well, was always patient with him and trusted him. He liked her smiles which were rare to see but always a gorgeous view to behold. He admired her cool and unapproachable demeanor which often stood at a contrast to her actually quite fragile personality. Sure, she gave off the image of being confident and strong in front of other people, but he always had the impression it could all crumble away in just a few seconds if one were to push the right buttons. Sometimes, the sad look in her eyes she so desperate tried to hide behind a mask of indifference made him want to just hug her and tell her everything was fine, yet despite the fact that he had felt that way for a while now, he had never acted on it, figuring it would have been to no avail anyway.

But with Gai gone now…maybe if he took it slowly, he actually stood a small chance at succeeding? He would have to lie if he said he wouldn't be happy to be allowed to stand at Arisa's side not as a mere dog, but an equal. He figured it was worth a shot.

"You know what? Why not. What's the worst that could happen?" He then said with a smirk while clenching his fist determinedly. Even if his approaches would result in Arisa changing assistants, he would just have to deal with it. He had kind of stopped believing that everything would simply go back to normal once this whole mess with the apocalypse was over anyway. Things had changed too much already for that to ever happen.

Yuu turned around, closed his eyes and smirked to himself in victory. "That's the spirit. I'll leave Miss Kuhouin to you, then. Work hard." He then went for the door, happy to finally be able to leave. This whole thing had turned out to take longer than he had thought. But that didn't really matter if Souta were to succeed. Yuu would gain far more from Souta taming his boss than he would lose from the time he had already wasted trying to motivate him into actually going for it. And if he were to failin the end…well, he would think about what to do then if the time came. For now he would just see how the situation played out.

"Leave it to me." He heard Souta tell him with a voice full of vigor. "And thank you. You are far less scary than Arisa told me you were, you know? Maybe we should get out there and have a drink together once this whole mess is over, eh?" This made Yuu actually stop dead on his tracks from surprise. Turning around in wonder, he was taken aback to see the dark haired man offer him a big, cheerful grin. Yuu actually didn't know how to react to this. How rare. People respected him far too much to ever be so casual around him. They were all too afraid of him due to his position and power to ever try talking to him that way. But this guy…he wasn't thinking about anything like that at all. It was as if he didn't even consider the consequences at all. Yuu then understood. This guy was an idiot. But somewhat in a good way. He couldn't help but utter a long, hearty laugh once he realized that.

"I see now." He then said. "Miss Kuhouin was right. You really have other qualities, after all. I look forward to our next meeting, Mr. Tamadate."

"Yeah, See ya."

And with that, Yuu walked out of the door that was held open for him by one of Arisa's goons. When the guard finally closed the door behind him, the envoy was simply gone, leaving Souta all to himself. Well, the security personnel remained, but they hardly counted since they never talked. Not to him, anyway. He took a deep breath.

"Alright, let's do this." He said with a smirk and clenched fist, apparently full with zest for action. He was positive that this fight of his would not be an easy one, but if he took his time and played his cards correctly, he was confident that he at least stood a fair chance. He actually hadn't felt this motivated since High School. With his newly regained confidence, he started to make his way back to Arisa's office in high spirits.

Love was war and the fight was on.


	18. Escalation

**18\. Escalation**

Later that evening, Shu found himself in a rather tricky and annoying situation. In front of him, five unevolved Undertakers stood, waiting impatiently for their blessings Inori was currently still crafting. With arms folded in front of his chest angrily, he couldn't help but send an angry glare Argo's way.

"What's this, Argo? You were supposed to bring them in gradually over time, not increase the amount of people you bring here steadily. Inori can't possibly keep that pace up…"

Said man scratched the back of his head, obviously troubled by this as well.

"I didn't do this…I told them to keep quiet about it for now to prevent chaos from breaking out, but the information that we were giving out blessings still spread somehow. And after they realized that the blessings actually reacted to people infected with the virus, they suddenly all started to want one…"

He was telling the truth. Even though there was no way to really confirm that these small crystals really could ensure a safe evolution, there was a small detail about them that had caught every human Undertaker's attention. Whenever one of them would touch a blessing, it would start shining slightly as opposed to the absence of any form of reaction if a Genesis held them. This was uncommon enough, since it usually was the other way around.

Normally it would be the humans who would never get a reaction out of any crystal, since they simply had been unable to use them. To finally see a kind that was actually reacting to them apparently caused them to gain hope. Especially since they also didn't seem to work on Genesis. It made sense to them, since they knew that a blessing was supposed to help them in case of a death caused by the apocalypse virus. Naturally they wouldn't work on Genesis, since they already had been immune to the virus. With that simple thought, they chose to put faith into these blessings. And naturally, everyone who knew about them would want to get one immediately. Much to the disdain of Yahiro who stood next to them, observing the situation critically.

"This is bad. If the numbers grow further, we may actually start making things worse than they already have been. There have already been reports of Undertakers getting into fights over these blessings."

"Maybe it had been wrong of us to assume that these people would patiently wait for their turn from the start…after all, they had been highly unreasonable before with their demands of attacking Loop Seven head on. Why would they be reasonable now?" The heard Jun mutter quietly as he narrowed his eyes on said Undertakers.

"You would be unreasonable, too, if you had lived with the constant fear of death for over two weeks. They are all just at their limit, is all." Argo argued calmly.

"If this continues, it will only be a matter of time before they realize that there simply won't be enough blessings for all of them." Shu grumbled worriedly and threw a glance at his busy queen. She was still sitting at her seat wordlessly, crafting away on her blessings just like she had been doing all day. He couldn't help but notice how tired and unhappy she looked while doing so. It pained him deeply to see her like this.

She became aware of him looking at her and immediately smiled at him, attempting to make him believe that she was fine to ease his worries. It didn't work, though. He could clearly tell that she was forcing herself there and it bothered him. She was forced to return her attention back towards her work to avoid messing up right after that. He could almost hear the tired sigh waiting to finally escape the prison that was her lips.

Her whole day had been exactly like the first time she had handed over a blessing. The people who had received them had rewarded her with cold looks and ungratefulness. Occasionally there would be empty words of appreciation to be heard, but most of the time they ended up to be words filled with scorn and entitlement instead. The verbal abuse had luckily stopped once Shu had returned, but the cold looks had remained. She really did not understand why she was treated that way. Shouldn't they be happy? Well, she wasn't, that's for sure. It was one thing to work hard for people who appreciated your work and an entirely different thing to do so without getting appreciated. The former felt refreshing even if it was tiring, the other just felt like enslavement. And the more the people continued to abuse her, the worse her mood actually became.

She was sad and a little shocked to admit it, but there had been times during this day in which certain dark thoughts had emerged on her mind. And the hot feeling deep inside her that sometimes felt as if it was burning so hot that it could actually scorch her insides, had also come dangerously close to boiling over. For the first time in her time as a queen had she felt like putting them in their place. With force. She realized that she was probably experiencing frustration right now. She hated the feeling, yet she couldn't help it.

Back in the void realm, her people would sometimes step out of line as well, but unlike those times, this time was especially difficult for her, she thought, for the Undertakers didn't make any sense to her. Her people in the void realm would usually have a reason to break rules and snap. Reasons she could understand. Using logic and understanding their problems, it had always been possible to resolve the matters somehow. Only in very bad cases had drastic measures really been necessary and she had never really liked to authorize them in the first place.

But today, even though she was thick-skinned, patient and always tried to be fair, she couldn't avoid getting dangerously close to lashing out at them. In the past, she would have taken a break and hidden somewhere where no one could have found her to get a moment for herself in order to calm down. But here, there was nowhere to hide. The Undertakers with their lack of reasoning were everywhere in this base. Even if she were to lock herself in her room, people would find her, keep knocking on the door, pestering her. Her own base felt like a prison to her. She wondered why it was that she had to feel like a slave when she in actuality had been a queen. Something had to be wrong here, but she felt like it couldn't be changed. Maybe she would just have to remain a bit more patient.

"It's done." She announced exhaustedly as she let the wildflower-formed blessing fall onto the table in front of her. She looked down on it with eyes filled with disappointment as she realized how dull it had turned out. It came in only one color and the color itself looked as if it had been washed out, almost gray. It barely even shined, either, and she noticed flaws in its form. It was a pitiful excuse for a blessing.

" _Oh well, it's not like they deserved anything better…"_ She heard her own thoughts, yet it sounded so unlike her. She pressed her eyelids shut, shaking her head and trying to dismiss this kind of thinking. If she started going down that path, she might actually lose herself on it. Like Mana had, or Arisa. No, she couldn't start treating her followers badly, even if they started treating her that way. A queen must treat all her followers equally. That's what she had always done. She was a good queen. At least she tried to be.

"Are you alright, Inori?" She suddenly heard Shu's voice as his left hand gently found its way on her right shoulder. His touch was warm and filled her with power, immediately making her feel better. On a day in which the majority of people she had met had treated her coldly, his warmness felt exactly like the thing she just needed right now. She put her hand over his one and leaned her head against his arm, taking in all of his warmness. She just wanted him to embrace her completely with that gentleness that radiated him.

"Shu…"

The king couldn't help but notice the weakness in her voice. It had almost sounded like a whimper, causing him to lower himself slightly to be on her level and put his arms around her from behind with a kind smile.

"You did good work today, Inori. It's getting late. Let's call it a day, what do you think?"

She wanted nothing more than doing just that. Letting Shu take her back to their room and pamper her a bit, holding her close as she would slowly drift away into the land of dreams…but she knew that there were still five people left, waiting for their turn. She had made only one blessing, so four would still remain. It would cause trouble if she were to quit now, so she instead answered him with:

"I can still keep going, Shu." She put her hands in front of her again, as if attempting to start crafting another blessing, but her king just put his hand on hers, pulling it back down and preventing her from starting.

"There is no need to push yourself." He told her caringly.

"Hey, hey. What are you saying, Shu! We have been waiting for a long time to get our blessings!" One of the five Undertakers then suddenly yelled, having overheard them. Without stepping away from Inori, he just turned his head around to them halfway, looking at them rather seriously.

"Hasn't that been your own fault, though? Haven't we told you right from the start that the production of blessings would take time?"

"You did and we remained silent, waiting patiently for our blessing only to get one instead of five blessings in the end. What the hell?"

Yahiro decided to back his friend up a bit against these angry people.

"Did you expect her to work all night?"

"The night barely even started. She said she could keep going, so isn't it fine?"

Shu looked up and through the skylight into the deep darkness of the night. This wasn't merely dusk, this was night, alright.

"She has been at it since midday and had only taken one small break to go eat something. What have you guys been doing all day?" He then said with narrowed eyes.

"Getting drunk in the refectory." One of the Genesis guards in the back decided to say. He tried to camouflage his remark with loud coughs as to not make it that obvious. The Undertakers heard it alright, however, and turned around to him angrily.

"You got a fucking problem, _Geneshit_?"

"Drinking?" They could now hear Shu say, sounding mildly curious. "Weren't you guys actually supposed to be patrolling the area around the base today?" He threw a glance at his strategist friend and earned a confirming nod from him. Argo also felt the need to confirm this.

"I can confirm that these guys have been slacking off this morning. They had refused to do their job even after Yahiro and I had told them to do it."

"Hey, whose side are you on, Argo?" They yelled into his direction. He looked away, ignoring them. This is what they deserved for not listening to them.

The king spoke again, louder this time, so that their attention would shift back to him. "So you decided to slack off. And you want Inori to work to the bone? What kind of reasoning is that supposed to be?"

The angry Undertakers sunk a bit into their shoulders due to seriousness in Shu's voice, but decided to still stand their ground nonetheless.

"And who are you to talk? Wasn't it you who had abandoned your duties as leader just to spend time with Inori? And now that she tries to look at you with big puppy eyes, you immediately start wagging your tail for her again. Isn't it actually you who has gotten his priorities in wrong order? Shouldn't a leader consider what's best for his group first and foremost?"

Jun didn't seem to like the direction this conversation was heading into and thus signaled the Genesis in the room to ready themselves for trouble by looking at them first, followed by nudging his head into the direction of the Undertakers with a serious expression. The soldiers got the message and positioned themselves closer to the noisy men.

Shu for his part eyed them very sharply for a while, followed by grabbing the blessing Inori had created off of the table. As his hand reached for it, he could feel Inori putting her own one over his worriedly.

"Don't, Shu." She whispered, apparently fearing that he would do something dangerous because of her. Her king, however, merely smiled at her in response.

"Don't worry. It will be fine." He told her calmly, then took the crystal into his hand and started walking towards the troublemakers, slowly, until he came to a halt directly in front of them. Angry eyes locked themselves on each other as both groups faced one another seriously.

"If you have a problem with my or Inori's leadership than you are free to try doing a better job. However, I wonder if you would actually have it in you to keep this group together."

"Together? I have never seen the Undertakers as divided as they stand today. It was fine in the beginning, but then you had to start giving your woman preferential treatment. It's because of her that we had to get these Genesis into Funeral Parlor as well. The group was better without them."

Shu narrowed his eyes on the man who had just spoken. "If you don't like the way we run this group, then why don't you simply leave? No one forces you to stay."

Another one's face formed into an angry grimace. "We don't want to leave. We want to do what we have come here to do. Fight for our freedom. To save our lives!"

The king then pushed the blessing against the Undertaker's chest strongly, causing him to get pushed back by a few steps in surprise as he took it from him. With sharp eyes, Shu then told him:

"If you want that to happen, then take this with you and leave. Maybe if you start to show some professionalism by actually doing the tasks given to you instead of drowning yourself in alcohol out of self-pity, will I start considering allowing you to join us in our next attack. How do you expect me to take you with me into battle if you can't even follow your orders, let alone respect your superiors?" He didn't even wait for their answer, just turned around and walked away, making it obvious that this talk was over for him.

"The production of blessings ends for today. Come back tomorrow." Were his last words regarding this matter.

The Undertakers would have none of that, however. Glaring daggers at him while gritting their teeth, they decided to storm at Shu together. Realizing that, the Genesis guards immediately made their move to protect their king. Unfortunately, though, even though they intercepted four of them, one managed to get past them. As the king was in the middle of turning back around in surprise, the Undertaker that had managed to get past his defenses threw the blessing that still rested in his hand at him.

The now flying crystal successfully managed to distract the king long enough for his opponent to make use of the opening. While Shu was fooled by his reflexes to protect himself from the relatively harmless projectile that had been launched at him, that one second in which he had closed his eyes had been enough for the Undertaker to mercilessly punch him in the face with all his might. The king was caught totally off-guard and was knocked right off his feet from the quite powerful punch.

"Don't get full of yourself, Shu! You may be the leader, but without the Undertakers, you would be nothing. We will not leave until we get what we came here for, so you better get your girlfriend to work!" He spat at him with an enraged voice. The brunette man quickly sat up again and looked his attacker in the eyes angrily while his friends apparently were still paralyzed by these sudden events. The atmosphere in the room became heavy and an eerie silence laid itself over everything, however, once their eyes fell on the queen.

The pink haired woman had risen from her seat abruptly, letting the chair fall back behind her due to the momentum, which had also been the reason why everyone was looking at her now in the first place. Her eyes were glowing in a bright, scary red and her hands were clenched into fists. The lights in the room started to flicker slightly, followed by the crystal wildflower on the ground starting to glow whenever the lights became dimmer. Everyone just stood and stared at her with their mouths gaping apart, completely unable to utter words at the spectacle that occurred in front of their eyes.

However, that state had only lasted for a few seconds before Inori closed her eyes and let a deep sigh escape her body. Her muscles relaxed and the flickering stopped. Once she slowly opened her eyes again, the glow had already left them. Though their unnatural coldness remained.

Her gaze fell onto the Eve's blessing that now lied on the floor, having landed there after having been thrown at Shu. Since it lied direct next to her feet, she slowly crouched down and lifted it up. Afterwards, she started walking up to the rebellious Undertaker in complete silence. Since no one dared to say a single word right now, her footsteps were the only thing to be heard in the room right now.

Finding her way in front of the man who had dared to punch Shu, she then came to a halt. With a serious expression, she just looked at him, clearly unnerving the man because of the things he had just seen.

"You have done something very bad." She then finally said after a short while of silence. "Apologize now or I won't forgive you." She demanded of him.

"You think you can order me around?" The man replied apparently finding his courage again after getting pissed off by her attitude towards him. "I've got news for you, sister. You may think you are the leader here, because Shu tries to tell that to everyone, but to me and the other Undertakers, you will always just be the leader's girlfriend and nothing more. We didn't come to fight for you, we came for Shu. And if it weren't for you to always distract him from what's really important, everything would have been far better than it is now." He told her defiantly.

She narrowed her eyes on him. "I never cared about what you thought of me and I actually still don't. However, if you really believe in what you just said, then I guess it can't be helped. I will leave."

"Inori?" Shu couldn't help but exclaim in shock. The Undertaker grinned happily.

"Finally, with you gone we can finally…" He didn't go any further than that since he noticed the rapid crystallization of his body, which caused him to cry out from surprise. Inori merely kept looking down on him coldly as he fell to his knees while everyone else just kept staring at him in shock. No one had seen signs of an infection for weeks, after all.

"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded to know from her. His body didn't stop to crystalize.

"I am doing nothing. That's the point. Now that I am gone, my protection from the apocalypse virus is gone as well. Since you never even took a single vaccine shot in over two weeks, the dormant virus inside you woke up again and is free to ravage your body without restraints. You are now entering stage II of the virus infection. Soon you will hit stage III, so you better get some medicine fast." She told him calmly as she squatted next to him.

"A-are you kidding?" He yelled while trying to bear with the pain. The crystals now covered about a third of his body, including half of his face.

"Of course not. Look, you were too late. That's stage III. Now even the vaccine won't help you anymore."

"Stop…screwing…with me" The dying Undertaker tried to grab Inori, but his heavily crystalized arm was already breaking apart. His eyes widened once he saw his limb simply falling to the floor and shattering into many tiny pieces. The sound of shattering glass filled the room, with Inori merely looking at the man without even batting an eye. As he was about to enter stage VI, she started offering him the blessing in her hand, holding it only far away enough from him that he would still be able to reach it if he tried.

"You have hit stage VI now. Death is imminent. However, you could still be saved with this blessing. Will you take it?" She saw the man groan in pain as he tried to move his almost completely crystalized body closer to the object she was offering him. His remaining arm slowly approached the crystalline wildflower and his face became a horribly grimace as it got twisted by pain, panic and desperation. Tears flowed continuously from his sole remaining eye that had not yet been covered by the cancer. However, right at the moment his cancerous fingers were about to touch the blessing, the hope that had been visible in his eye, glittering between his tears, had abruptly been replaced by despair as he was forced to see the wildflower shatter right in front of him. A pitiful cry escaped his lips as he saw the shards it had turned into fall to the ground one after another.

"Unfortunately, though, since I am no longer here, there naturally won't be any blessings, either. And without them, there simply is nothing left for you to do but to die and take your chances with evolution."

"No way…you damn…bitch!" He cursed at her, followed by turning into crystals completely. Inori merely watched him fall apart and turn to dust

"You should have simply apologized…" she said coldly and got up again. Oddly enough, she felt better now. The burning fire inside her subsided and the stress that had accumulated had reduced somehow as well. Rather than giving out difficult to craft blessings to ungrateful people who dared to not only hurt her feelings but also her king, putting them into their place felt far better than trying to hold it all in and keep going. The fact that they apparently didn't view her as their queen or leader had made it surprisingly easier for her, too. If she wasn't a leader to them, she didn't have to treat them like her followers, after all.

The refreshing feeling of accomplishment was rather short lived, though, once she realized the looks of everyone around her. Expressions of shock and terror surrounded her. Suddenly, she didn't feel all that good about it anymore.

"Oi…he is dead…" Argo could be heard mumbling in disbelief. But it wasn't just him, even the Genesis looked slightly surprised as well.

"She…she killed him." Juan exclaimed in shock. It wasn't the first time he had seen that happen, but he sure as hell hadn't expected it to happen now. And in such a way as well.

"Murderer!" One of the remaining Undertakers yelled with anger added into his voice.

"The witch has finally shown her true colors! What are you going to do about it, huh, Shu?" They all now looked over at the brunette man, who had gotten up and made his way next to Inori in the meantime. He looked at them and saw nothing but angry and hateful looks in their eyes, which obviously troubled him I return. Realizing quickly that there would be no way of preventing a further escalation of this situation, he simply chose to position himself in front of his queen while looking at them coldly.

"I wonder what it is that you are talking about just now."

The Undertakers looked taken aback by his reply and Yahiro gritted his teeth as he noticed where this was going. Hitting his brother with his elbow lightly, he nudged his head into the king and queen's direction. Jun nodded and together, they found their way to Shu and Inori's sides.

"Shu has a point. Hasn't Inori merely demonstrated what would happen if your selfish wish would have been granted?" The older brother then backed his friend up.

"That's right. In the first place, wasn't his fate deserved after the way you have been treating the queen all day?" The younger one continued. The Genesis which surrounded the Undertakers proceeded to draw their voids on them as well.

"Again with this queen nonsense!" The Undertakers furiously yelled at them. "What is it with you Genesis and your kings and queens? Has the apocalypse virus fried your brains and set them back into the middle age? We didn't come here to play Dungeons and Dragons, for fuck's sake. Grow the fuck up. Especially you, Shu. Who do you think you are? End this madness and return to reality!" They demanded of him.

"You are right." They all heard him say then with a confident smirk now on his lips. "It is time to end this madness once and for all." He directed his attention towards his queen and asked her:

"How many blessings have you created today, Inori?"

His queen who wasn't exactly sure where this was going, simply answered him by telling him a number.

"Eight."

"Including the one that just shattered?" He saw her nod.

Her king gave her a satisfied nod as well, followed by looking over at Jimmy who was one of the Genesis guards in the room.

"Jimmy, there are currently seven blessings circulating inside the hideout. I want you to take all the men you need and retrieve them. Let no one leave the hideout until you have all of them back."

"The people carrying them will likely not give them up without a fight, Shu." The American chose to voice his worries.

"Then use force if needed. I want them all back here as soon as possible." The taller man only gave him a short nod, then left the room with a quick: "As you wish."

"Hey, Shu. What the hell do you think you are doing?" Argo couldn't keep quiet about this anymore, grabbing the king by his arm and forcing him to look at him. "You can't do this!"

But Shu merely yanked his arm out of his grip and replied coldly: "Oh you bet I can. There has been a fundamental flaw in our plan, Argo. Which is the fact that these people have yet to learn who is in charge here…" He had pointed his right index finger into the direction of the rebellious Undertakers as he had eyed them with anger. He approached them and kept staring them deep into their eyes in a threatening manner.

"You asked me who I thought I am. I am one of the two leaders of the Undertakers. You heard that? Two. The other one is Inori. What was this just now about her merely being "the leader's girlfriend"? "Make her get to work"? Are you fucking kidding me? Does she look like a goddamn blessings dispenser to you? It appears to me that you all have forgotten that you are working for us, not the other way around. That will soon change." He stepped back from them and went back to find his place next to Inori.

"From now on, Inori will only craft blessings for people who have actually earned them. No more freebees. We won't bring the apocalypse, so thinking about it, why should she be slaving away for you guys to mass produce blessings? If you so desperately want to have them anyway, you will better work for them. That includes treating Inori with the kind of respect she deserves as well as doing your fucking job instead of slacking off all day, are we clear here?" He asked them while looking at them with harsh eyes, making obvious that he was totally serious about this.

"…You think you will get away with that?" The unevolved terrorists threw those words back at him with gritted teeth.

"I already am." He sent an evil glare their way and the Genesis surrounding them directed the harmful end of their voids at them, effectively shutting them up.

"Now get out of my sight." With a dismissive swing of his arm, he threw them out of the room. The Genesis didn't hesitate to enforce his wish. The powerless humans could do little but accept defeat and leave with sullen expressions on their faces.

"You are making a huge mistake here, Shu. The others will hear about this." Argo finally said with nothing but disappointment in his voice. He turned around and followed the Undertakers by heading out through the door with heavy and angry steps.

"Great, let them all know. Teach them some respect while you are at it, too." The king merely replied with disinterest and grinned mockingly as he watched the former soldier go. With that, everyone aside from the king, his queen, Yahiro and his brother had left the room.

"I am sorry, Shu. I went too far, but when he hurt you I just…" Inori said quietly while looking down on her hands in shame. These hands of hers…in the end, they were good for nothing but destruction, after all.

"Snapped?" Yahiro finished her sentence, sounding a bit dry while doing so. That earned him a sharp look from his brother.

"Can you blame her? Getting treated the way she had for the whole day…I would have snapped long ago."

"I suppose that's true." His older brother then reluctantly agreed. He hadn't been around for the whole time, but from what he had seen, he had actually started feeling quite bad for Inori…and he usually didn't feel sympathy for others easily. Those guys had really been behaving out of line. Even the most docile animals in nature would attack others if they got pushed too much into a corner. There was only so much shit you could take before you decide that it simply was too much. Them attacking Shu probably had only been the final straw.

"Don't apologize, Inori. If anything, it has finally opened my eyes. We can't keep treating them with kindness only when all they keep showing us is disrespect. Sometimes you have to put away the carrot and take out the stick." He rubbed his still aching cheek with an angry glare that was directed at the door. Inori stopped his hand to touch his cheek carefully instead, inspecting it caringly.

"Does it hurt?"

"Barely, but it has been a while since I had been punched this hard…" He told her with a small smile. This actually brought him back. When had the last time been? That one time he had confronted Gai? No, maybe it actually was that one time back in Tennozu High when Argo had tried to escape.

"I don't necessarily disagree with Shu's plan of establishing a system in which only those who work actually get what they want, but its introduction could not have been any worse." Yahiro told them with a deep sigh.

"Maybe we should have done so from the start…" Jun agreed with a frown.

"What's done is done." The king simply said to them with a shrug. "They will have to deal with it. It's their fault for getting cocky in the first place."

Jimmy and a couple of other Genesis arrived about twenty minutes later, bringing back all of the seven remaining blessings. They had looked a bit roughened up, but they had reported that the overall retrieval of the crystals had been no issue at all. The American Genesis handed his leaders a bag filled with the desired objects obediently and after confirming that, indeed, all seven blessings had been present, Shu dismissed him and his small squad, wishing them a good night.

Following that, Yahiro and his brother called it a day as well. Shu and Inori thanked them for their hard work and went back to their room, too. After that shitty day, they all couldn't wait to fall into their not-all-that-comfortable beds, Inori probably most of all. She had barely even laid down next to Shu and put her arms around him to use him as some kind of hugging pillow when he had already started hearing her breathing gradually slowing down, followed by her snoring away quietly. Even though he knew that Inori was a person who could fall asleep very quickly, he had yet to see her do it so abruptly. It was as if someone had flipped a switch on her or something. Just how tired had his queen been?

He threw a glance at the small safe on the desk at the other end of the room, in which they had put the seven blessings to keep them out of unauthorized hands. Just from crafting these 7, formerly 8, crystals, Inori had been this exhausted. Maybe that was but another proof of their true worth. Guarantees always came with a price. And the price for guaranteed survival of the apocalypse was quite high. It had been foolish to think it would have been okay to give them away for free. Inori would never see an end to the demand. It had been natural to see her crumble under the pressure. Her little outburst earlier had been his fault, he realized. He should have seen this coming.

He saw himself forced to admit that he was somewhat ashamed of himself. He realized that he had barely even changed from his past days, still trying to please everyone. He wanted to be a good boyfriend to Inori, a good king to the Genesis and a capable leader to the regular Undertakers and in the end, he didn't do a very good job in any of these categories. He made Inori overwork herself, hadn't found a solution to the rising tension among Genesis and humans and the Undertakers started acting up with him due to lack of respect.

He sighed quietly. Back in the days, no one would have dared to punch Gai…well, except him, but he hadn't exactly joined Gai because he had liked or believed in the man in the first place, like other Undertakers had. Heck, he had even joined with the intention of possibly selling them out to GHQ. Funny how a guy like him was apparently leading them now. But then again, treacherous leaders could be a running tradition with Funeral Parlor. After all, Gai hadn't been the most loyal leader in the first place.

He closed his eyes tiredly, not really looking forward to the next day. He was sure to have quite an unpleasant awakening with the Undertakers probably going to act up again. But whatever it would be that they would throw at him and Inori, they would eventually manage somehow. It wouldn't be their first hardship, after all.

Realizing that overthinking these matters would bring him nowhere and only cost him some precious hours of his already short sleep, he decided to shift his focus over to his queen's slow and rhythmic breathing instead. He could feel his consciousness gradually drifting off as if listening to the gentle sound of air entering and leaving her body actually had a hypnotizing effect on him. He then nodded off to enter the land of dreams as well, looking forward to be able to enjoy the peace they would hopefully provide.

-GC-

Meanwhile, Juan was taking a stroll through the hideout with heavy thoughts plaguing his mind. The things he had just seen his queen do…he had to admit, it sort of bothered him. How easily she had killed that man in just mere seconds without even battling an eye. It had been quite cold blooded, if you asked him. Inori wasn't supposed to be like that. Even when she had executed people in the past, she had never done so without showing at least some form of pity in her eyes. She had never looked like she had enjoyed it. Today, however, he got the impression that she had felt…relieved somehow. As if it had helped her relieving some stress. And that was exactly the problem. Murder wasn't supposed to be relieving…unless you were a psychopath…like Mana.

He bit on his lower lip as he realized what he was thinking right now and the foolishness that lied behind it. Inori wasn't Mana. No way in hell would she be. He had worked under her for many years now precisely _because_ she had not been anything like the mad queen. It had been the sole requirement to make him follow her. It hadn't been because she had been pretty or that he had thought her quietness had really been cute. He knew some guys who had joined her because of that, but he hadn't. No, he had come to her because of the simple fact that she hadn't been Mana. Everything else had just been a bonus. Inori had shown him kindness and mercy where he would have only gotten harshness and death from Mana instead. It had made him want to devote his life to her and now would you look at him, doing the unthinkable by comparing her to Mana just because of her having had one bad day. He simply was the worst.

He ruffled his own hair in frustration and sighed as he continued his way forward. He decided to go to bed. Maybe some sleep would make him able to calm these blasphemous thoughts of his. He would be happy if by tomorrow, he would have already forgotten the entirety of them. But as he was about to go to his room, he happened to pass by a small storage room the Undertakers had swiftly turned into a prison cell for the survivors of the No-Queen faction they had captured the other day. Great, what a place to be at right now, he thought. Wanting to leave that place behind him quickly, he cursed mentally once he heard someone yell his name behind him.

"Juan! Man, Juan! It's you, right? Wait up!"

The islander reluctantly came to a halt and turned around to see the guard waving him over, apparently really wanting him to come back and talk to him. He withheld an annoyed grumble and came back, planning to hear what the fellow Genesis wanted so that he could deal with it and leave quickly.

"What is it?"

"Phew, am I glad you actually turned around. I thought you would simply keep on walking." The Genesis guard told him with a relieved sigh. He wore a strange Australian bush hat that didn't really suit him, given the fact that he was probably around fifteen years old or something. If it hadn't been so obvious that the hat had been the younger man's void, Juan would actually have thought he would have merely tried to look cooler than he actually were. However, given the fact that there were void-esque bars lined up in front of the door he was guarding, the islander deduced that he was actually using his void to keep the prisoners from escaping.

"Let me guess, you are into trapping?"

The youth only gave him the widest of grins in response. "It's kinda obvious with my void and all, eh? It's true, though. Been into that since I was little, but that's beside the point, man. Can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Well…" The guard scratched his cheek embarrassedly. "I've been standing here for a while now and in all honesty, I need to…"

"Ah, I get it. You need to take a piss." Juan realized with an understanding grin. The younger man nodded.

"Could you please take over for me for 5 minutes? I will be back soon, I promise."

"I dunno man…my shift just ended and I actually am kinda tired…"

The guard then clapped both his hands together in front of him and lowered his gaze in a pleading way.

"Please, man. Help a fellow brother out. It will only take a few minutes of your time!"

The black haired islander reluctantly gave in with a sigh.

"Alright already. Just be quick. If I catch you slacking off later, I will make you regret it."

He had barely said it when he already saw the kid run off into the direction of the nearest restrooms with a grateful "Thanks, bro!". Juan sighed again as he watched him go. He really should learn to say "No!" to people. He always ended up in this kind of situations.

That's when he suddenly heard chuckling from the other side of the prison bars. Great, now he was even being ridiculed by prisoner scum.

"Aren't you quite a hero, Juan?" The voice of a young woman entered his ears. Looking into the direction it had come from, he could see a rather attractive beauty leaning against the crystal bars that kept her and her friends from leaving the storage room. Long, slightly curled brown hair adorned her head, some of it long enough that it rested on her right shoulder, reaching down far enough to cover up some of her chest. Her sapphire eyes were narrowed down halfway in a playful manner, being accompanied by a mischievous smirk. She wore a simple, black blouse with the first buttons unbuttoned, allowing curious onlookers a slight peek at her, admittedly, not-too-shabby cleavage. The caramel color of her smooth skin further added some kind of appeal to her in Juan's opinion since he liked his girls rather tanned than pale. He figured that this woman must have been from a warm country like he was, since there hadn't been any sun in the void realm and you wouldn't get this tanned in Japan during winter of all times. Not normally, at least.

"The kid just now was so easy to play with. So innocent. I wonder if he actually had to take a leak or if he just ran away because of my teasing." She chuckled again. "Maybe you will keep this lonely lady company instead? I could make it worth your while, you know?"

"There are enough of your rebel scum friends in there, so play with them instead."

"Aww, so cold. I like that. You see, there are only old guys in here. The innocent and young ones are more to my taste. They are so cute when they are flustered." Her voice sounded awfully seductive.

"Pervert. The guy just now was still just a kid." Juan argued, unimpressed by the woman's words.

"That guy? I was just playing with him to spend some time. Now that you are here, the real fun starts."

"Shut up and go to sleep." The islander closed his eyes in annoyance. That kid from earlier better came back soon.

"Maybe I will go to sleep if you tell me a story?" She asked him with a smirk.

"How old are you? Five?" He grumbled at her. She decided to twirl her hair around her finger playfully. My, she must really enjoy doing this kind of things.

"Silly boy, you don't ask a maiden how old she is."

"Maiden. Sure." He retorted with a short, sarcastic laugh.

"That's rude. I am fairly young, you know?" She said, not sounding the least bit offended. Juan only eyed her somewhat bored.

"You may look young, but everyone knows you can't guess a Genesis' true age from their looks alone. You could actually be forty and still look like you are twenty."

"And would that be bad? If I were older than I looked, I could combine experience together with a young body. Wouldn't you be curious how that actually played out?" She told him flirtingly and put a finger on her lips, making the younger one pay attention to them for the first time. They looked soft and had a nice color to them. He immediately faced away again, realizing where this was going.

Yeah, he actually _was_ curious and that was exactly the danger here. She probably aimed for him to release her so that she could get the best of him and free the others. He wouldn't fall for that.

"I know what you are trying and it won't work." He declared defiantly, causing her to smile at him.

"Well, from the way you just looked at me earlier, I would say it is working quite fine…"

"Would you just shut up?"

"I already told you. To make me leave you alone, you will need to tell me a story. I am waiting."

"What the hell am I supposed to tell you?" Juan groaned in annoyance.

"Well, for example, you could tell me what all the ruckus about your queen is all about. From what I was able to overhear from people passing by, I heard that apparently someone was executed."

Juan turned somewhat pale almost immediately. Suddenly he wished she would have just continued trying to seduce him. At least that would have been easier to handle in his opinion. He lowered his gaze.

"You heard correctly then." This simple sentence apparently caught the woman's interest instantly.

"Really? You seem to be somewhat troubled by that."

"I am not. It was completely justified. They attacked first." He quickly denied her words, though still with troubled expression.

She smirked at him. "What your eyes say and what your words say contradict each other, you know? Who am I to believe? Usually it is the eyes which tell the truth."

Juan frowned. Was he really that easy to read or was this woman just a pro at reading people?

"Believe what you want. It's none of my business."

"Hm, then I will simply believe that Inori snapped and displayed unnecessary cruelty towards her victim."

This somehow pissed Juan off. "Why would that be the first thing you assumed?"

"Because she is a queen." She told him with a mischievous smirk. Juan then sighed as he remembered that these idiots were all like this, believing that queens and kings were evil and must be gotten rid of.

"Right, for a second I forgot that you all are just a bunch of lunatics."

"Are we?" She asked him with another one of her calm chuckles. She apparently couldn't be discomposed by any means.

"Mana used to be kind as well once, a long time ago. We all know what she became in the end. Same thing will happen with Inori. Soon you will also realize that following a queen will only lead to ruin. After all, you should know, right? You have followed them both and they both eventually turned out to be the same, isn't that true, Juan?"

The islander suddenly reached between the bars to grab her by the throat, glaring at her quite furiously as he was choking her.

"You don't even know what you are talking about, woman. I may be young but don't treat me like a fucking fool." He told her angrily. The woman, however, despite obviously being in pain, still managed to smirk at him.

"So while the queen slowly transforms into Mana, so do her followers slowly become Mananites. No, wait. Rather than you becoming one, isn't it rather that you have never stopped being one?"

He immediately let go of her in shock. Her words apparently must have hit a sore spot.

"Yo-you are wrong!"

She laughed at him quietly as she massaged her aching neck.

"Do you think anyone has forgotten what you have done in the past? How many defenseless civilians you have slaughtered in the name of Mana? I wonder, Juan, do you still hear the cries of the children you set on fire that day?"

The dark haired islander looked at her with wide eyes as sweat started running down the back of his neck. He hit the bars in front of him with his fist, yelling:

"Shut up!"

"Poor Juan. Once Inori becomes the next Mana you will be used to slaughter innocent people once more. But then again, you were always kind of homicidal, weren't you?" Her cruel smirk didn't even vanish once Juan took out his pistol he wore behind his back, aiming it directly at her pretty face.

"Either you shut up yourself or I will fucking _make_ you! What will it be, huh?"

"That would prove my point now, wouldn't it?" The brunette woman simply stretched her hand out and made him lower his gun, followed by pulling him closer to the bars gently.

"But you don't have to feel bad. This big sis would still love you, even if you were a crazy murderer. After all, aren't all Genesis murderers already? We all have killed in that pointless war. But if all queens were to disappear, so would the need to kill. We could all be free. Just imagine it. If you made these bars between us disappear, we could make it happen. Anyone can kill a queen in her sleep. It would be easy. And if you wanted to, you could even come with us as we escape afterwards. I could keep you company. You would want that, right?" She had pulled him so close that she had been able to whisper the last bit into his ear affectionately. Suddenly, he wasn't sure what to do anymore. The way this woman kept playing with his head, it was simply unreal. This woman was a witch. A witch!

"I am back! …What the hell's going on here?" The sudden voice of the young guard managed to bring him back to his senses. Backing off, he immediately put away his gun again and shifted his attention back from the witch to the guard.

"Nothing…it was…nothing." The black haired islander told him tiredly. He felt as if he almost had lost his soul there. He wanted to go now, but then he heard the brunette bitch ask the guard:

"Hey kid. Do you ever remember the times of the aerial assault?"

Juan immediately came to a halt. This fucking wench….!

"You again…what's with you and your random questions?" The guard asked her with a glare filled with annoyance.

"Just answer the question, honey. Pretty please?" She tried again, this time with a sheepish smile, probably knowing that that was the guard's weakness. He, indeed, blushed instantly and looked away.

"Well, if you need to know, I sometimes have nightmares about it. It was a pretty brutal event, after all and I was only twelve or so…I believe. It's kinda hard to tell your age in the void realm." He told her embarrassedly, still looking away.

"Awww, poor child. I wasn't there at the time to protect you. Was it really as bad as people say?" She asked him with sympathy in her voice, yet actually eyed Juan with her typical smirk as he remained staying not too far from them, not moving at all.

"It was terrible. There were explosions everywhere. Everyone was running around, trying to find places to hide, yet there was nowhere to run to. I remember that particular girl who I sometimes would play with getting directly hit by a rocket….she…she just splattered all over the place…I had some of her blood on my face, even. As I was just standing there, crying… I couldn't really tell what happened from all the tears obstructing my view but I think a crystal pillar got damaged and fell on me after that. It was the first time I died. I will never forget that moment." He continued his story with a serious expression. Sometimes his voice would give in as if he was about to cry, but he managed to get a hold of himself and finished telling it. He looked slightly pale after he had done so, probably not being too happy about all the unpleasant memories the woman had caused him to recall. A thought Juan could probably agree with.

The man in question just continued standing there, his back still facing the other two. He had his right hand placed on his face as his eyes were wide open from hearing all that, realizing that it had all been his doing.

Back in the day, when he had still been a Mananite, he had not really understood what had been going on around him. He had awakened in the void realm, having died during the fourth apocalypse, and been brought to a camp. Everyone around him had been speaking in Japanese, so he hadn't been able to understand what they had been talking about. There had been this pink haired girl who he later would find out to be Inori. She had spoken to some people in Japanese, followed by having a private conversation with some tall, blond haired guy who he would later recognize as Gai. Soon after that, there had been that other pink haired chick who people had seemed to respect greatly, as everyone had made room for her while she had approached the other girl. That had naturally been Mana. Mana, for some reason, had then started yelling at Inori, followed by them fighting against each other seriously. Everyone around him had been shocked to see a second person with crystal powers while he had just been busy trying to figure out what had been going on.

Then Mana had yelled some more, apparently even angrier than before. Inori had said something in return and had left soon afterwards with some people leaving with her. It had taken him a while but eventually he had found a woman who had actually been able to speak his language, Spanish. The woman had told him that they had been in the void realm and that Mana had been their queen for about ten years at the time. She had also added that the other pink haired woman he had seen, Inori, had been an impostor queen that had suddenly shown up to steal Mana's crown. Mana apparently had declared war on her and had asked all of her loyal subjects to assist her with driving out this villainous rebel scrum. To ensure peace in the void realm so that they could all await the king's arrival without having to fear getting attacked by rebels.

A short while after that, he had learned that he could use his own void. It had taken him half a year to learn how to use it properly and a few additional months to realize that it actually came with a means to attack. Once the other Mananites had seen the destructive capabilities of his void, they had immediately dragged him into the army Gai had been forming. From there on out, he had been training with his fellow comrades to master their voids and attack these people of which he had heard only horror stories up until now.

Eventually, one year after he had come to the void realm, he had started entering the first battles as Gai deemed the air force he had recruited to be ready for combat. He had fought his first battles bravely and had killed a lot of rebels, which had earned him a lot of prestige among his comrades. As he had slowly risen in ranks, he had been granted more privileges such as the right to gain subordinates and the right to seek an audience with Mana directly. He would have also been able to claim a few slaves for himself. Mananites who, unlike him, had continuously failed in combat and had shamed the royal army. People who had been considered weak and disposable.

Frankly speaking, he had liked his power and authority. It had made him feel good and important. He also hadn't felt all that bad about killing for glory. After all, his enemies would have revived sooner or later anyway on top of them having been rebels who had chosen to deny Mana's kindness in the first place. A woman who had only praised him up to that day and had urged him to continue his good work. How could anyone seriously want to oppose such a wonderful woman? They would have had to be seriously mad.

One day, his view on his glorious queen had changed, however. That had been the day he had been tasked to lead an aerial assault on the rebel base they had located. He had been told that it would be teeming with an army of bloodthirsty rebels, a rat hole filled with nothing but war mongers aiming for the queen's head. He had led that assault like he had been told to and he had also been the first to drop his bombs on the base, only to realize that the people he had been shredding to tiny bits had not at all been fanatical killers but rather defenseless people with no means of actually retaliating.

For the first time in that long year of serving Mana had he then finally realized that something must have been amiss. When he had finally returned home later that day, he had sought out his queen to tell her how wrong they had been. That the base they had believed to be full of monsters had actually only been a camp of defenseless civilians. She had reacted rather unimpressed about that information, telling him that it wouldn't matter, for they had still all been traitors deserving of death. He had finally understood then and there, that it hadn't been Inori's forces who had been the war obsessed and brutal lunatics…it had actually been the queen he had served vigorously for the past year. And the bloodthirsty monsters who kept standing in the way of peace? It had been him and the other Mananites. That realization had caused him to become depressed.

He had started doubting his past successes all of a sudden. Had everything he had done really been worth anything? Hadn't he rather been standing on the side that actually only made everything worse? The more he had thought about it, the more he had actually realized the flaws in the system he had lived in. He had finally seen the gap between the powerful and powerless. There had been slavery and prostitution, the power of your void and your position in the hierarchy had determined your wealth in the community. If you were strong, you were also rich, where the weak would always remain poor, without even the freedom to decide their own fate. He had become conflicted.

The system had been bad, but he had still been in a very high position. If he had wanted to, he could have simply exploited it to his heart's content, living off the misery of the weak while he as one of the few strong ones could have actually done whatever the fuck he had wanted. At first, he even thought he would simply do that. After all, he hadn't known the civilians on Inori's side in the first place. They had been nothing to him. Why should he have risked losing everything for people he hadn't even known? But when the order for a second aerial assault had come, his consciousness simply hadn't allowed him to participate. When he had floated above the battlefield, looking at his comrades laying waste to the helpless people below him, he had simply decided that he couldn't do it. That he wouldn't slaughter the innocent and weak for his own personal gain.

What happened next had been something he should have had expected. One of his subordinates, greedy for his position, had seen him hesitating and thus had smelt his chance of getting a promotion. Calling him a rebel sympathizer, he had kicked Juan off his void and down into his certain doom. If the fall wouldn't have killed him, then the rebels in the camp certainly would have.

Then the rebel queen had suddenly struck. While he had fallen into his doom, dozens of Inori's soldiers had emerged out of nearby crystals, surrounding their enemies and mercilessly slaughtering them in their moment of weakness. His former comrades hadn't even had the time to realize that they had been tricked into attacking nothing but decoys created with voids which had only served as bait to lure the enemy in in order to dispose of them mercilessly. While Juan had fallen, he had actually laughed as he had seen the fool who had pushed him getting obliterated by one of the queen's crystals no less. It had served him right, had been his last thought.

Or not. For surprisingly, Juan had actually survived the fall only to get dragged in front of the rebel queen personally once his broken arms and legs had been treated just enough to allow him surviving his coming interrogation. He had been surrounded by enemies, dozens of faces he had probably already met on the battlefield, all looking at him in utmost contempt. Inori had asked him why he had been betrayed to which he had answered that it had been because he had refused to attack. When asked why he had refused to attack, he had truthfully told her that he had thought it would have been wrong. The people around him had called him a liar, a scam who only tried to save his sorry hide. He had laughed then, completely understanding where they had come from. He had told them that he actually could endorse their distrust for he had finally seen what being a Mananite had truly meant. He had admitted that he wouldn't have believed a single word of what he had said, either, if he had been in their shoes. Choosing to give up, he had apologized and urged Inori to finally execute him. It had been what he had deserved.

But the pink haired queen had shown no intention of doing so. After a short while of looking at him in silence, she had gotten up from her throne and actually pardoned him. The people around her naturally had raged beyond belief, not accepting her decision at all, but she had merely told them that she had heard the honesty in his words, that she had had the impression that he really had regretted his actions. When brought against the argument that he had been an enemy, Inori merely argued back, simply reminding them that at one point, every one of them had been a Mananite and that if they had been allowed to get a chance of attaining redemption, then naturally so had Juan deserved a chance as well.

Moved by the queen's kindness, Juan had made the decision right then and there to serve her instead of Mana. By putting his power into her service, he had intended to make amends for all the injustice he had caused by fighting her in the first place. He would have gladly fought his former comrades if it had meant gaining her trust. But for everyone else, his resolve had still not been enough. Even with Inori's arguments, they had still felt distrust towards him, and naturally so. That's why he had told Inori to execute him anyway, so that he could leave all his past sins behind and be reborn anew. That effectively had shut up everyone who had still been opposed to his naturalization into Inori's kingdom, for no other Mananite ever had been willing to go this far before. And so the kind queen had accepted his proposal and had told him to come seek her out once he would be reborn to accept citizenship under her rule. Then she had killed him, swiftly, by piercing his body with a huge crystal that had grown out directly from the ground in front of him. He hadn't even seen it coming.

The last thing he had remembered then had been seeing the pity in her eyes as she had done so, honestly regretting that there hadn't been another way. To him, that had been the ultimate proof that he had made the right decision. This queen he would follow from now on instead of Mana had been a person who had combined the kindness for her subjects with the strength to rule them. He had barely even known her for half an hour and had already liked her far more than Mana by far, who had been nothing but a joke in comparison. As his vision had faded into whiteness, he had embraced death for the first time in the entire year he had been a resident of the void realm. And he had done so with a smile on his face.

From that day on, he had given up all the privileges he would have had in Mana's kingdom to live as an equally treated follower of Inori instead. And there hadn't been a single day after that on which he had ever actually regretted having done that decision.

Even now, 4 years later, had that little fact remained unchanged only to be met with doubts after having seen his queen today. He understood why she had done it, he was even willing to overlook that little bit of cruelty as a one-time slip-up. After all, humans, even if evolved into Genesis, were still far from perfect. Everyone could make mistakes once in a while, but what if it hadn't been a one-time thing?

What if Inori, after having become Eve, unexpectedly also had inherited Mana's cruelty? What if it slowly started transforming her into the same monster he had thought he had managed to escape? He would be forced to go through the same shit again, just as before, and he seriously couldn't do that. He didn't want to return to his time as a Mananite…to tell you the truth, he would actually rather die than becoming a monster again. A scary thought entered his mind.

If his kind queen were to become a second Mana, he would rather have no queen at all…

He turned around again to have a look at that witch who kept grinning at him, probably reading the dark look in his eyes as a sign for successfully having converted him into their strange group. He had to admit, he finally saw where they were coming from. The simple thought of ever getting oppressed by a mad queen again was, frankly speaking, downright terrifying. It had been no wonder that they had developed the mindset of rather being queenless than ever getting ruled by a tyrant again. But at the same time, he realized that relying on this group would be futile. They had been made useless, robbed off their voids by Shu and thus having become nothing but toothless dogs. No, he needed someone who actually stood a genuine chance at doing this the right way.

Without a word, he simply left the scene, ignoring the remarks the woman kept yelling after him, as well as the guards' questions about whether he had been alright. He didn't care about them right now. What really mattered was the wellbeing of all the Genesis. He felt sorry about what he was going to do to his queen, but he was sure she would understand. There simply was no time to sit and wait to see if she would really become a tyrant or not. If he were to wait that long, it would already be too late to stop her by the time it would happen. No, for this kind of situations it was simply better to be safe than sorry.

"Forgive me, my queen."

-GC-

Back in the refectory, Argo sat at that certain table in the furthermost corner of the room where a certain barkeeper with an unfittingly religious name was giving out alcoholic drinks to everyone who asked for them. Like he had wanted, Shu had actually come down here to tell this bandana wearing man to restrict alcohol consumption to the late hours, to which he had agreed without raising any objections. To add insult to injury, he had even stuck out his tongue at Argo while the king hadn't been looking, probably trying to tell him: "I am still not listening to you, asshole."

But maybe that had just been the ex-soldier's imagination. After all, he had not raised any complaints about him asking for drinks, either. He had simply given him whatever he had ordered without question. Maybe he was fine as long as he was allowed to do what he wanted to do, which was making use of his void while it was still of any use. Argo could somehow get behind that. Maybe he should have tried seeing it more from the Genesis' perspective instead of selfishly having things his way.

Speaking of Genesis, Keido was surprisingly here as well, though probably for other reasons than to get drunk. He was filling up a small box with bottles of strong liquor with the help of the barkeeper. Haruka was next to him, discussing something regarding their experiments with him. For some reason, 'Jesus' had also been interested in their conversation, causing Argo to believe that their research probably had to do with the Genesis' acquired resistance to alcohol. From what he had been able to overhear, he understood that Genesis had an increased resistance to poison and that alcohol was treated as a toxin by the Genesis' bodies, thus breaking it down faster than it could have any effect on them, meaning that they couldn't get drunk…or something like that. He didn't really care either way.

His mind was rather occupied with the events of today. He had learned that Shu and Inori had become Adam and Eve, in other words the number one enemy of mankind. They had told everyone that they weren't planning to bring the apocalypse in the same breath as they had declared the acquisition of their new titles and at first he really had wanted to believe them, especially since they had shown the willingness to give out Eve's blessings to everyone…but somehow, it all had gone wrong.

Now Inori had killed an Undertaker in cold blood and when people had demanded there to be consequences, Shu had chosen to show favoritism instead of equality. It was because of that decision that he started doubting his words regarding his unwillingness to bring the apocalypse. It gave him reason to believe that if Inori were to ask him to bring it, he would actually go along with it. And that was simply unacceptable.

Of course, the Undertakers weren't behaving quite civilized, either, he had to admit. Even he had been disgusted of their treatment of Inori today and many times had he tried keeping them in line, but they simply would never listen. He would have accepted if Inori would have wanted to punish them…just…not the way she had eventually chosen to do it. It had brought her point across quite well, but it had also made him doubt her loyalty towards the Undertakers…the unevolved kind, mind you.

Then again, with the way the Undertakers had behaved in front of her, he could actually understand the lack of loyalty from her part. It was a complicated issue. To make matters worse, he saw a group of Undertakers approach him.

"Hey Argo, is it true that Inori killed one of our own today?" One of them asked.

"That's right."

"Why?"

"Who knows? Maybe because you guys have treated her like trash for the entirety of the day…or maybe it was because some of the guys were stepping out of line by trying to attack Shu." He told them with a shrug as he took another sip of his drink.

"Still, to kill someone because of that…"

"Hey, I don't agree with it, either. Maybe it's the way she handled things in that strange void realm they keep mentioning…" The ex-soldier grumbled disapprovingly.

"This is simply outrageous! We gotta make clear that this isn't the Genesis' damn void realm anymore. This is the real world where other rules apply. We aren't barbarians for god's sake."

Well, that depended on how you chose to look at it. Argo didn't think either side had acted civilized today, though he would agree that Inori's actions had been more severe. Another Undertaker then chose to agree with the former's words.

"I know, right? What is that medieval crap with kings and queens all about, anyway?"

"They took away the blessings the same day they had started giving them out, too. Some people actually got pretty hurt by the Genesis trying to take them back." A female Undertaker added.

"First all plans get delayed because of Inori, then she kills one of us for no reason at all…what's next?"

"The apocalypse." Argo simply stated, looking down into his glass. "Shu and Inori became Adam and Eve, so it wouldn't be likely for them to do it." Everyone just kept staring at him in utter shock.

"Are you serious? Oi, they are always together, even now. Are you telling us that we could die to them any second now?"

"Pretty much. You could say we are at their mercy." Argo replied to them, only to have one of them hit the table with a fist angrily.

"Fuck that! We can't tolerate shit like this! It was bad enough having to fear the apocalypse suddenly starting to happen at any given moment…now we actually have to worry about it being caused by our own people?"

"Are they even still on our side? They have both become Genesis, after all…" The female one reminded them with a frown. "They also took all the blessings back and started keeping them to themselves. What if they are planning to hand them out to everyone in their council and then simply bring the apocalypse?"

"I haven't gotten one…yet." Argo simply informed them.

"Or you could simply be lying to keep us all from making a scene." They looked at him suspecting.

"You guys are already making a scene…" The ex-soldier calmly argued back.

"Urgh, I kinda liked it more when it was just Shu. Remember how we took down GHQ five years ago? That were times, eh? Should have seen the look on his face back then. No fear, no hesitation. Only determination. It was fucking inspiring. Now it's all centered around Inori…" One of them said with a sigh.

"Pah…would be fine if she were just to disappear. Can't she just get kidnapped again or something?" Argo and the other ones put their fingers in front of their lips while looking around to see if anyone had heard that careless remark, then they hit the guy who had said that on the back of his head. Lucky for them that the barkeeper had went away with Keido and Haruka, probably to help transport the liquor to their lab.

"Idiot! Do you want to die? Let the wrong people hear that and you will end up just like the guy who had punched Shu today."

"Even if you wanted to get rid of Inori…" Argo told them all with a quiet whisper. "You would still not be able to do so. There are the Genesis who protect her, not to mention Shu. And I am not sure if you are aware of the fact already, but Inori is strong enough to rival an army of Genesis, even more so now that she is Eve. You would never be able to best her."

"That's not necessarily true." They all flinched once they heard a new voice enter their small group, shocked to see no one else but Juan standing behind them all, looking down on them seriously.

"Crap…uh…we were just joking around, you know? Drunk people being stupid. No need to tell anyone, right? We will stop this stupid topic right away, right guys?" Everyone just kept smiling nervously and nodded at their fellow Undertaker's words. The Genesis among them sighed.

"You are in luck that I am sharing your views regarding my queen, otherwise you would all be so toast right now." He added the last part with an evil grin, enjoying the Undertaker's confused and shocked expressions.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"I mean that I am on your side. Inori is showing signs of becoming a danger to the Genesis. I want to make sure and send her back to the void realm where she can't harm anyone anymore. I know a way to render her powerless. The only question is, are you guys up for it?"

Juan looked them all deep into their eyes and eventually saw their confusion vanish and get replaced by nasty deviousness. Mischievous grins appeared on their faces one after another, until the only one left was Argo.

"I don't like doing things this way, you know…" He told them all with a frustrated sigh, but eventually gave in. "But I guess we don't have another choice. It's for the best of everyone."

Even if he was certain Shu wouldn't agree. Well, he would simply have to deal with it. Life wasn't all guns and roses, after all. Sometimes you would have to swallow the bitter pill.

A leader lived for his people, not the other way around. He would have to learn that lesson the hard way. Maybe by taking away his distractions, he would become a good leader once again. Those may have been drastic measures, but the times they lived in hadn't been exactly easy, either. It was time to get shit done and it needed to happen now. Not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow. Now.

A good leader was measured by his ability to make the decisions he believed in.

And if Argo were to pay the price for this decision someday, so be it.

* * *

_**Oooooh, shit's getting real here. Inori got seriously fed up with the Undertaker's shit but that in return may actually cause her more problems than she and Shu would have originally thought? Oh, and before anyone starts wondering if Inori really is becoming like Mana...she isn't. She just got really, really, really pushed to her limit. Never push Eve to the limit. Actually, if Inori had been like Mana, those Undertakers would have been dead long before they even got to the point of hurting Shu, lol. They are all just getting paranoid and started expecting the worst case scenario. But that's how people are, right? Always unreasonable.** _

**_There was also a bit of back story going on for Juan. I actually felt bad giving him so much screentime since he is just a damn OC in the first place, but it needed to happen. I am slightly amused by the way he turned out to be. In the earlier concept stages of this story, he already had been meant to be a traitor. Back then, the main antagonist had actually remained to be Mana and he would have secretly reported all of Shu and Inori's moves to her via crystals without anyone noticing. As the story concept slowly changed over time, the main antagonist changed as well and with it the reason for Juan's existence. I thought I was screwed at the beginning, since I thought I had inserted a stupid OC I would later have no use for anymore, but it still worked out somehow and I even like this development far more than my original one._ **

**_Taking your time to work your plot out sure has some advantages. The original concept I had had in mind back when I had started this fanfic had been nothing compared to what you are getting right now. I actually don't even remember much of the old concept anymore, but I think if I had still followed it, the story would have long since been over by now. And what a shame that would have been, eh? Now you still have the remainder of this arc (I think two or three more chapters) as well as two more arcs lying in store for you. Seriously, this story is never gonna end, lol._ **

**_Hmm, nothing else to say, I think. See you next time, I guess. Keep reviewing, guys. Always happy to hear from ya. You can tell me how angry you are at Argo and Juan for planning to betray their leaders or how angry you are at Inori for losing her cool in the first place. You might even agree with the Undertaker's logic for all I know. I am fine with reading everything you got, so out with it._ **


	19. No queens and kings. Only man.

**19\. No queens or kings. Only man.**

A couple hours later, in the middle of the night, Shu and Inori found their sweet slumber to be interrupted by two, young visitors. They came running into the room hastily, without knocking first, and ran up to their sleeping leaders with panic in their voices.

"Inori, Shu, wake up! Quickly!" One of them said, it was a little girl of maybe 9 years with brown, shoulder length hair. She looked small and timid and from all the emotions you could currently see hiding behind the tears in her eyes, fear was evidently the most dominant one.

The boy next to her was not much older than her. He appeared calmer than her, which made him look somewhat braver, but in the end, you could clearly tell how frightened he truly was deep down from the slight shaking of his hands. It couldn't be helped, though, he was still a kid, after all.

The king was the first to wake, being the first one the kids came to, pressing their full weight repeatedly against his back as they tried to wake him up. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked at them confusedly as he turned around to face them, slightly wondering what they were even doing in here. A short glance over to the window to his left made it obvious that it was still night outside, so he couldn't help but wonder why these kids weren't asleep right now.

Next to him, his queen mumbled something tiredly as she tried to remain asleep for a while longer.

"What are you kids doing here at this late hour? Shouldn't you be asleep?" Shu asked them with a yawn and rubbed his eyes sleepily. That's when he noticed that he knew the boy. It was the small rascal who had made some trouble with his void a couple days ago. It had been a flash bang, he recalled. It still rested inside of his void arm ever since the kid had expressed the wish to let him have it. The king sure hoped the boy hadn't woken him this late just to get it back now.

"There is trouble! Some bad men with guns came and took all the grown-ups and children with them! They wanted to take us, too, but we ran!" The rascal told him. He stared at them in shook as he had registered these words and even Inori's eyes opened wide all of a sudden as she got up quickly, all her tiredness apparently having been blown away by them.

"What?" Shu then asked the kids, hoping he had just misheard.

"It's like Hiro says, Shu! Bad people came and started forcing everyone to come with them angrily. They said they would kill them if they wouldn't." The girl then said, starting to cry.

The two monarchs looked at each other worriedly, followed by Inori gently putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, making her look at her.

"Shh, it's okay. No one is going to die, alright? Can you tell me how the bad men looked like?"

"Were they dressed like soldiers? Or did they wear mostly white coats?" Shu voiced his suspicions as he grabbed his own coat to put it on. He also summoned his void, looking determined and ready for battle. If the base had somehow been found by either the SDF or Da'ath he and Inori would have to drive them out fast and secure it again before it was too late.

The kids, however, only looked at each other with very troubled expressions, causing Inori, who was now putting on her overcoat as well, to look at them in worry.

"What's wrong? Don't worry, you can tell us." She told them kindly and decided to stroke their hair calmly with a smile to reassure them of their safety. Shu was quite impressed with her ability to handle children in this situation. He was sure he wouldn't be able to smile at them if he knew they were under attack right now. But then again, she had had the experience, having looked after them for many years.

"They are…Undertakers, Inori…" The boy then said to her with a sad voice. "I think they have turned against you."

Shu and inori's eyes widened again and both of them froze, as if they had turned into ice statues. Inori's gaze went downwards to the ground, looking at it with a mixture of many different emotions, the most evident ones being confusion, disappointment and, of course, surprise. Shu, for his part, only looked at the kids disbelievingly, apparently not wanting to believe what he had just heard them say. He knelt down to their level, put his hands on the boy's shoulder and asked him seriously:

"Are you absolutely sure of this?"

The boy, whose name apparently was 'Hiro' only gave him a determined nod. He wasn't joking around here. The king got up and turned away, putting a hand over his face in frustration.

"So this is how it's gonna be?" Is what he mumbled to himself afterwards. He had known that there would be problems the next time he would wake up, but he hadn't thought the Undertakers would go _this_ far. Not so fast at least. Inori didn't say anything, just shared his troubled expression while looking away from the kids, probably pondering a few things.

"What are you going to do?" The small girl eventually decided to ask them after a short moment of silence. Shu faced her once again with a defeated smile.

"I guess I will have to step down." He told them, surprising everyone.

"You can't! What about the Genesis! Everyone still believes in you and Inori!" Hiro then yelled at him in protest. Inori seemed to agree to that.

"You are my king, Shu. Even if the Undertakers disagree with us, or particularly me, that doesn't mean the Genesis are the same. I am sure they still want us to lead them. We can't abandon them…" She dropped her gaze in sadness just from the imagination of Shu giving up on them. He, however, merely walked up to her and put his hand on her check, causing her to look up on him again.

"Don't worry, I will never stop being your king. I will be stepping down as the Undertaker's leader, not as your king. It became obvious that we cannot ease the conflict between humans and Genesis, so it seems we have no other choice but to split the group up again. If the Undertakers don't want the Genesis, then we will just take them and go elsewhere. It should be fine since that's what they wanted in the first place."

Inori sighed in relief once she heard his explanation. For a short moment it had sounded as if Shu had given up on her and the Genesis. Of course, she knew he would have never really given up on her, but if he had decided to leave the Genesis behind, then she would have had to follow him reluctantly as well. She had promised to remain at his side forever, after all. Her promise to him was more important to her than anything else…plus, there still was Da'ath lurking around out there, possibly aiming for either him or her. It would have been too dangerous to let him leave on his own. She would have never allowed it. Wherever he went, she would go as well.

"I am glad." She told him truthfully as she took his hand into hers with a small smile. "I will support your decision."

Shu's reasoning was sound. The Undertakers had made it quite clear that they did not want the Genesis and their queen around any longer. She had had to make that harsh realization herself from the awful events that had occurred earlier today. The way things had escalated had probably been the last straw in this weeklong conflict. To be honest, after today, she would actually gladly leave the post with Shu and return to be just the queen of the Genesis with him as her king instead. Her Genesis at least had never treated her that badly and also listened to reason. Frankly speaking, she was tired of the Undertakers and their unreasonable behavior. If she could just leave them all behind, she would not hesitate to do so. For her sake as well as theirs. After all, if things were to continue the way they had today, she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't just snap again. This new feeling of frustration they had taught her…they could keep it, really.

"Good, let's get this over with, then." Shu replied and returned his attention back towards the kids. "You two wait and hide here, just to make sure. We will come and pick you up once the matter is settled."

"Actually, why don't you just hide inside the crystals?" Inori then offered as she pointed towards the crystals that had grown next to the bed. It had been the same ones Shu had used to give Inori his energy back when she had still been comatose. "No one will ever suspect anyone to be in them and you can even sleep in there. It's still night time, so kids should sleep now." As she had said that, Shu noticed the tiredness that was still visible in her own eyes as well. She probably wished to go back to sleep most of all, having had a very tired day today herself. Alas, she couldn't, so she probably at least wanted the kids to have some rest in her stead.

"I refuse! I wanna see you guys putting those damn Undertakers in their place!" Hiro said bravely as he raised his fist in determination. The girl next to him, however, grabbed him by his sleeve, obviously not wanting him to leave her all alone. Shu couldn't help but grin at the boy's displeasure about that reaction.

"Nothing's going to happen anyway. Probably. We will resolve this matter peacefully somehow, so it will just be boring adult-talk. Besides, the young lady there appears to be in need of some protection." He told him amusedly. The kid just stared at him, then looked at the girl who was still holding his sleeve with those big, puppy eyes of hers. Hiro then had to admit defeat and agreed to Shu and Inori's suggestion with a sigh.

"Alright. I've got no choice, I guess." He said as he took the girl's hand and led her to the crystal formations present in the room. He helped his friend in, then vanished into it himself. He hadn't disappeared for even five seconds when his head emerged out of the structure again, eying the two monarchs again.

"Oh, we almost forgot. They are all at the big hall the Genesis sleep in. Or they at least were when we decided to run away."

"Got it. Thanks, now be a good kid and go to sleep." Shu told him which earned him an angry glare in return.

"Don't treat me like a kid, damnit!" He yelled, followed by Inori hastily getting next to him, putting her right index finger over her lips while putting her other hand on the youth's head, gently pushing him back into the crystal.

"You have to be quiet. What's the point of hiding if everyone is going to hear that you are here?" She whispered to him quietly into his ear, which caused him to blush. Oh, that's right, Shu remembered, that guy had had a hopeless crush on Inori. Maybe that's why he immediately shut up and did as he was told. With a short nod, he silently went back into the crystal and didn't come out again.

"Good boy." She had praised him. He had already been inside the crystal, but Shu was sure that he had probably been able to read her lips from inside, most likely being quite happy about that. Shu kind of hoped the girl that was with him would pinch him out of jealousy, but then again…he wouldn't really know if those two really were as close as they were right now under normal circumstances as well. Well, not like it really mattered. There were bigger problems to handle right now.

"Let's get this over with." The king said to his queen as he headed for the door. She followed right after him silently, though not without some serious determination in her eyes, apparently getting ready for the worst possible outcome. In which she might be forced to use force yet again. If the Undertakers were going to play dirty, she would too.

The hallway was eerily quiet as they hastily found their way to the old production hall. Back in the day, whatever it might have been this factory once had produced had probably been produced in one of these halls right there. Of course, you couldn't really tell anymore with all the big machinery missing, having long since been removed by the previous Undertakers under Gai's leadership to make room for other, more useful things. Such as sleeping places for Undertakers.

With the sheer amount of people living in this base, you naturally couldn't have everyone getting their own, private rooms. That sort of privilege would have to be reserved for people of somewhat higher ranks, such as, of course, Shu and Inori, as well as their friends and family. The rest, however, had to make do with sharing a big room with each other in which a lot of two-story beds had been placed. There had been two of these rooms. One for the Genesis and another one for the Undertakers.

But while the Undertakers actually had used the beds given to them, the Genesis had chosen to sleep inside crystals instead. That was because they had learned of a really interesting fact soon after they had escaped the void realm with the help of their king and queen. For years, they had never been required to sleep, so once they actually _had_ the first tiredness in years befall them, they had discovered the pleasure of actually resting inside crystals instead of usual beds. Apparently, it was more comfortable by far as you would feel as if you were floating in outer space, being completely lightweight while getting surrounded by a gentle warmth that would embrace you as your mind would drift off into a faraway place. The people, who had told Shu and Inori about it, had also mentioned that they also felt very refreshed whenever they woke up on the next morning. According to them, they had never had any problem with waking and getting up.

Shu and Inori had never tried it, though, having enjoyed feeling each other's warmth far too much as to ever trade it in for anything in the world. And to be honest, Shu hadn't been all too keen on trying it out in the first place. He still couldn't really get behind this "fuse with crystal" business very much, even after having become a Genesis. He liked the fast-transporting kind since you never actually noticed getting inside them in the first place, but the kind in which you actually walk in? He figured that he would need a lot more time to get used to something bizarre like that.

It had its uses, though, he couldn't deny that. Aside from the simple fact that it apparently was far more comfortable, Genesis actually took up less space whenever they entered crystals. A man-high crystal could store around 5 to 6 grown Genesis, depending on their size. It didn't even come as much of a surprise to the king, too. He hadn't really noticed it back then, but now that he thought about it, that one time in the void realm when he had entered a crystal, namely the wall surrounding Inori's camp, the structure had, indeed, looked quite a bit larger from the inside than it had from outside. And even the army Yuu had teleported in during their last confrontation had exceeded the amount of people that would have normally fit into the crystals the twins had called in.

That had had the effect that all the Genesis had been able to fit into that one hall, simply by giving them some crystals to rest in. Inori had gladly created them for them. Unfortunately, that had also had the unforeseen disadvantage that every Genesis had been gathered up at one place, making them an easy target for the rebellious Undertakers.

The two monarchs eventually arrived at their destinations, entering the big hall through the main doors. In actuality, it would have been more accurate to say they barged in loudly, making sure that everyone noticed their presence. From the way every rebel immediately pointed their weapon at them, it was probably safe to assume that they had gotten their attention. They came to a halt at once and looked around them to asset the situation. It did look even worse than they had expected. The Genesis had been perched together into a corner with some of the Undertakers aiming their weapons at them. The rebels were positioned on the ground floor as well as the old industrial platforms above, which had probably once been used for maintaining the big machines in this hall, but had lost their purpose with their removal ever since. At least until now, that was. Shu and Inori were shocked to even see a few Genesis among the rebels, pointing their voids against their brethren. What the hell?

On these platforms, Shu also happened to spot the members of their council. Haruka, Keido, Hare, Ayase, Tsugumi, Yahiro and his brother were standing there with expressions ranging from angered to worried, also guarded by Undertakers, though not held at gunpoint like the Genesis were. Someone was missing, though. That's right, where was Argo?

As if following his thought, his queen answered his question.

"Shu." She merely whispered, catching his attention. He looked at her briefly and followed her line of sight to actually see him standing amongst the rebels in the middle of the room. Like his queen, his eyes narrowed immediately as well. He was one of them?

"What in the actual fuck is going on here?" Shu then demanded to know. He had a pretty good idea what was happening here, but he still wanted to hear it from them personally just to make sure that this wasn't just all a big misunderstanding.

"Ah, Shu. You came just in time. I was just about to get you." It was Argo who answered him. The king had already half expected him to.

"What is the meaning of this?" Inori asked coldly. Her expression had changed into a rather unpleasant one as soon as she had seen her Genesis being held at gunpoint. Especially once she had spotted the terrified faces of the children among them. Shu shared her anger. What were these people thinking? He was sure that this was somehow related to Inori's outburst earlier, but why the hell were these people targeting the Genesis instead of them? It didn't make sense.

"Shouldn't you of all be aware of the meaning behind this, Inori?" The ex-soldier and apparently rebel leader chose to reply calmly.

"Not a single reason comes to mind why you would possibly be able to justify aiming weapons at children." She said angrily to which he actually frowned.

"I am not liking this either, but according to our sources, that's the best way to ensure that you won't tear us to shreds the moment you see us turning against you."

"I had no intention of doing so in the first place." She told him truthfully.

"Didn't look like that to me earlier, you know." The cold look in Argo's eyes actually managed to make Inori avert her gaze in a mixture of shame and frustration. She knew she wouldn't have an argument that could possibly be acceptable to them, seeing as they were all unreasonable to begin with. Luckily for her, Shu decided to rejoin the conversation.

"Don't you go blaming her for that, Argo. You know better than no one that it were the Undertakers who had stepped out of line."

"So it was fine to downright murder one of them?" Argo asked him critically. The king only eyed him harshly.

"He had asked for it." Was all he said to that.

"Well, then so did Inori when she did what she did." Suddenly, all nearby Undertakers started aiming their guns on Inori specifically. They even activated their laser sights to ensure they wouldn't miss. Countless red dots appeared on the pink haired queen's head and chest to which she responded by getting in position to counter attack with crystals.

"Not so fast there, Inori. I wouldn't do any sudden moves if I were you." Argo merely said and pointed towards the Genesis which were still held at gunpoint. She somehow felt the hot, bubbling mass of anger rise up inside her again, but decided to lower her hands again anyway. Instead, she decided to widen the gap between her and Shu to ensure that no stray rounds would find their way near him by accident, should they really decide to shoot.

"Even though I came without the intention of hurting anyone…" She mumbled quietly to herself. Apparently she couldn't do it right, no matter what she tried. And now, she couldn't even hurt anyone even if she wanted to. Not as long as Argo held the Genesis as his bargaining chip. With some of the rebels being Genesis, she couldn't simply turn them all into crystals, since it would have no effect on them. Not to mention that it would also kill Haruka, Yahiro, Ayase and Tsugumi…

"I don't know how you Genesis see things, but where I come from, murder is still a crime, no matter who you are. And you will have to answer for that, Inori." Argo then continued to say, causing her to eye him defiantly. Shu quickly came to his queen's defense, though not without throwing a short, worried glance over to the people aiming their weapons at her.

"Just listen to yourself, Argo. How many people have you killed? Have you ever answered for that?"

"It was for a higher cause. I have never taken the life of an innocent man or woman."

"And who gave you the right to do that? Who are you to decide who lives and dies?" Hare suddenly yelled down at him in anger, obviously infuriated by this man's words. However, as the guards were throwing angry glares at her, she was forced to back down again.

"The government took our rights back then, so we naturally had to fight to get them back." Was all he had to say to her. "And besides, who gave Inori the right to kill whoever she pleases?"

Well, technically, the queen's crown did, but Shu was smart enough to not say that. With a sigh, he chose to answer instead:

"You are right. She didn't have the right to do so. We were wrong. That's why we have come to the decision to step down as your leaders. We thought it would be a reasonable measure to take to admit our fault in that matter. It should be what you wanted, right? To remove us from power? Well, there. It's done. You have won. There is no reason for bloodshed so let's lower our weapons and decide who else is going to take the reins from now on." He told them calmly as he looked them all into their eyes, hoping to make them listen to reason at last. To be honest, he had never wanted to be the leader in the first place. He would gladly give the burden up to someone else if he could.

However, strangely enough, even though he had been so sure that his offer would ease the tension, he was surprised once he saw everyone only looking at him coldly in disapproval instead. He frowned in return. What was this all about now? Was that not what they wanted? Last time he had people turn on him, they had asked for nothing but that. Did the Undertakers want even more? But what else could he possible give them?

"That's what you thought this was all about?" Argo merely said with disappointment clearly evident in his voice as he shook his head. "No, Shu. We didn't come this far to remove you…only her." The last bit was directed at Inori, of course. Said woman didn't seem all too fazed about that, not that anyone could blame her. With the way she had been treated today, she wouldn't want to be responsible for the Undertakers anymore anyway.

"What…?" The king, however, couldn't hide the obvious confusion in his face. He couldn't follow Argo at all. "What is there for you to remove? You made it quite obvious that you never even viewed her as your leader in the first place. Even if I stopped calling her my equal, nothing would really change now, would it?"

"Exactly, which is why we don't just want her to merely 'step down'. We want her out of the game. Completely." Is what Argo told him. Shu understood even less.

"And what is that supposed to mean? You want her sent away?" The king asked, trying to figure out Argo's vague wording. If that's what he wanted, there would be no way he would actually agree to that. He and Inori came as a team. Either they would do it together or they wouldn't do it at all. If Argo wanted him to send her away, he would go with her.

"You could say that. To the void realm, that is."

The room immediately fell into silence once everyone had heard Argo speak. That was soon followed by an outrage from the Genesis who started calling Argo a madman, traitor and various other things which were quite the opposite from being compliments. The Undertakers could only shut them up after firing warning shots at their feet. A few attempted to draw their voids in return, but were caught red handed and had the dangerous end of a rifle pointed at their heads.

Shu then narrowed his eyes on Argo angrily, shooting daggers at him.

"You better not be saying what I think you are saying here, Argo."

"We demand Inori's death, Shu. And we want you to do it."

The council member's winced at these words, while Shu only stood and stared at the rebel leader in utter bewilderment. That was the moment he finally snapped, yelling furiously.

"Have you lost your fucking mind? Why in the name of god would I even imagine doing something like that?"

Argo, however, remained calm. Sighing slightly, he answered with: "To reconfirm your loyalty towards us, the Undertakers. To show us that you still know what is more important here. The greater good. Recently, you have started giving off the impression that Inori was more important to you and that's simply unacceptable. We all have come here to fight for you. We have made sacrifices to make it happen. It's time for you to show us the same resolve. Make us want to follow you once again. Show us that putting our trust in you had not been a mistake."

"Sacrifices? I am sorry, did we accidently start a religious sect or something? I was under the impression we were terrorists, not fanatics." Came the voice of Yahiro, voicing his protest. His friends nodded in agreement.

"We all have left our previous lives and families to come and fight for Shu. The least he could do is leave his girlfriend behind as well." Argo merely replied.

"By killing her?" Shu yelled at him in complete bewilderment over the ex-soldier's mad demands. This was beyond unreasonable. It was downright crazy.

"She is Eve, right? Keido said she cannot die. She will revive in the void realm and thus far enough away to not cause any more harm to us. It is a fair demand. We left our loved ones alone at home until the time we would actually win this war, so we have decided that you should, too. It's the best for everyone."

"Don't screw with me!" Shu's shout echoed through the whole room while striking through the air angrily with his right hand. "If she was to be sent to the void realm, she would be in the hands of Da'ath. The enemy. We would play right into their hands!" He argued, obviously enraged.

"But Eve is useless without Adam, right? And surely Inori would not betray us no matter what? So what could Da'ath possibly do with her to harm us? I would say that situation would be far safer than our current one in which Inori could simply decide to kill us all in a moment's notice."

"I would never do such a thing…neither I nor Shu wish for an apocalypse to happen." Inori decided to remind him, though to no avail as the rebel leader just shook his head again.

"That's only what you say now. You could change your opinion any second. And once that happened, it would be too late to even stop it. Face it. Having you two live together is too much of a danger to every human being around."

"What kind of person do you think Inori is?" Jun then objected heavily. "She has lived years trying to always find the most peaceful solution! What makes you think she would simply choose annihilation now? This whole situation is an outrage! End this madness at once!" He demanded fiercely. However, he got calmed down by Yahiro placing a hand on his shoulder. A certain look into the direction of the guards who were now getting irritated at him for his choice of words told the younger man that he had to tread carefully from now on. This was far from a diplomatic discussion he was partaking in, after all.

"A pointless argument." Suddenly, a new voice was thrown into the room, making everyone look up into the direction it had come from. There, Juan floated on his void, overlooking the whole situation as if he were some kind of judge. No one had really noticed him until now, having been distracted by the obvious threat before them, but now all eyes were glued on him as he spoke.

"People can change, Jun. We are all aware of that. After all, wasn't Mana a kind queen once, too? We both wouldn't really know, since we came at a time in which she already had changed, but before us, before Inori even, there supposedly was a time in which she had ruled with kindness and justice. If you don't believe me, ask around. The Genesis who had been in the void realm for more than 5 years will surely tell you the same story." Shu and Inori looked up at him in anger. So he was in on it, too? No wonder the Undertakers seemed to be so prepared. He must have told them Inori's weakness, which was the Genesis. With them in the line of fire, she couldn't do anything. And with everyone pointing their guns at her, Shu could do little but watch as well.

Juan's words were true, though. Shu himself had witnessed many people attending Mana's funeral and they themselves had told him that Mana had once been kind, before her obsession with war had started to develop together with Inori's arrival in the void realm. However, let that be as it may, what did any of this have to do with this current situation?

"So what if Mana had been kind once? What does it matter? She is gone." Shu threw into the room , sounding irritated.

"Yes, and now Inori took her place. And the same madness that plagued Mana before has begun corrupting Inori as well." The islander explained to him. "We have all seen it happen today."

A mocking laugh then happened to fill the room as Keido happened to find this whole conversation truly funny.

"Such nonsense. I pity you, Yuzuriha Inori, for if all your vassals are as worthless as this fellow levitating up there, you really are cursed to be the queen of nothing but morons." He said with an evil smirk as he looked up at the youngling in question provokingly. Said man came flying down to face him directly with an unpleasant expression present on his face.

"What was that, old man?"

"You heard me, you fool. Brats like you make me sick. You think you are so smart flying up there, creating chaos with your little rebellion you undoubtedly have caused. Let me ask you something, boy. How long have you served this queen you so willingly chose to betray today?"

Juan looked down on the older man in contempt as he answered: "Longer than you have, you filthy hobo. Unlike you, I have fought in the war on both sides. I know fairly well what I am talking about here."

"Indeed, you have." Keido merely chuckled at him amusedly. "But know you still do nothing. I may have not fought in the war, but I have still watched from the sidelines. I also happened to see you, Juan Diaz. I saw you slaughter people by the hundreds, saw you tearing innocents to shreds on that blasted aerial assault of yours. And still, even though you committed such horrible crimes of war in the name of Mana, who was the foolish queen who chose to pardon you instead of executing you like the scum you were?"

"Careful there, you old fool." The islander warned him, but the dark haired man simply continued his speech with those adamant eyes of his.

"I wonder, Juan Diaz, what made you choose to betray your former queen to join this one? Was it her kindness? Was it her beauty? Or did you do so on a whim? I used to believe that you might have seen something in her you had not been able to see in Mana, but now I am not sure anymore. Turns out that you are not much different from all the other foolish brats your age, always doing whatever is more convenient for you. When Inori offered you a fresh start, you were willing to take it. You fought so vigilantly for her for many years, believing in her without the smallest shred of doubt. Yet all it took was one little outburst from her and your whole beliefs get shaken as if they had been built on sand from the beginning. The youth from today surely is a pathetic one, won't you agree, Haruka? Back in our days, the things we believed in used to mean something at least."

He may have addressed his sister, but still had not taken his eyes off the man in front of him. In all actuality, he disliked the boy for a far more simple reason than you would actually at first expect. He reminded him of himself. The foolishness of youth that always seemed to know better even if they didn't. Keido, too, had once thought he and Kurorsu would be able to change the world with their research on the apocalypse virus. However, he had been so sure, so determined to succeed, that he had begun losing sight of his actual goal. Instead of remaining objective, upholding a clear mind as was required of a scientist, he had given in to paranoia and jealousy. He had thought his partner, Kurosu, had actually been trying to leave him behind in the dust when in actuality, it had become evident by the things he had said on his last breath as Keido had killed him in cold blood, that he had not had such intentions in the first place.

It had turned out that Keido had only seen phantoms all along, killing his friend because of signs of betrayal that hadn't even been there to begin with. It had cost him much. A dear friend and a loving sister. And what had made it all worse, instead of admitting his wrongdoing, he had chosen to run away, deciding to shroud himself in meaningless excuses instead. He had been a fool the same way Juan was now. He was betraying his queen on the same baseless phantom signs as he himself had with Kurosu. Juan was bound to regret it as well, just as Keido did now.

"Shut up!" The islander yelled and used his fist to hit the older man right in his face with so much force that it knocked him off balance. He didn't get to hit the floor, though, as both Haruka and Yahiro caught him in time to stabilize him.

"I am not betraying Inori. I am saving her and everyone from herself. I will let everyone remember her as the kind queen she is rather than letting her become another monster who everyone would hate instead."

But Keido could do little more but shake his head in disappointment. So this brat had chosen to hide behind excuses as well. A fool until the very end. So be it then. Instead of saying anything else, he simply chose to look at him in disapproval. Unsurprisingly, everyone else from the council and the rest of the Genesis did so, too, apart from the few rebel ones who apparently joined Juan's cause. The black haired islander received these glares and met them with an angry one of his own.

"You all may not understand now, but with time you will see that I am right. It's better to quit serving a queen while she is still a good one rather than waiting for her to turn bad and oppress us all. Because all queens eventually turn out the same."

"And you would certainly know, because there were so many already, right?" Ayase merely replied with eyes narrowed down from annoyance. Even she knew that there had only been two queen's so far. How absurd it really was to make a stupid statement such as "all queens are evil" when "all" only referred to "two". It was the same kind of generalization as "all men are rapists" just because some do rape. You might as well have said "everyone who eats bread is a killer" simply because all killers in history so far had eaten bread. What a worthless statement.

"There had been one who had turned mad, and there is another one who shows signs of becoming the same. That's all I need to know." Was Juan's only justification.

"I see…" Inori then said with a sad sigh. "So this is how you view me. I guess some things will never change…" Once Mana's vessel, always Mana's vessel, was that it? Apparently, even with Mana gone, she could not escape the fate of getting compared to her. You might think she had gotten used to it by now, but surprisingly she hadn't. And she thought she never would. In her opinion, she was far too different from Mana to ever be compared to her, which is why she couldn't understand the comparisons. But maybe it was only her who had that impression? If everyone thought she was like Mana, maybe they all had a point.

"What a load of bullshit." Shu eventually said, folding both his arms in front of him confidently. He eyed Juan coldly and continued.

"Everyone who thinks Mana and Inori share even the slightest bit of likeness with each other obviously is nothing more but a blind and delusional fool. I have known Mana like no other. She was my sister and yes, she had been nice once only to become a monster in the end. But even that monster had had reasons to become that way. That reason had been me. I have hurt her for many years by rejecting her feelings, making her sink into despair and eventually allowing her to become the person she eventually turned out to be. It had been me who had corrupted Mana and I am not proud of that. Yet it cannot be changed. What is done is done. That doesn't mean, however, that Inori has to walk down the same route. Unlike Mana, I actually love Inori with all my heart. I would never allow her to fall into despair the same way Mana did. To begin with, Inori and Mana never had much alike apart from their powers. Even the kind sister I once knew had never been as gentle as Inori is. The way you all are pointing guns at her…Mana would have surely killed you all without exception, hostages or not. Simply because Mana had been a person who hated losing control. She had been that way even before she became queen. The fact that you all are still standing, alive and healthy, despite threatening her is already more than enough proof that Inori is fundamentally different from Mana. She does not want to control. She only wants to protect. Even if the protected turn against their protector…" He said the last bit with quite a bit of sadness and disappointment, looking down on the ground thoughtfully before returning his gaze towards Juan and Argo determinedly.

"You guys don't deserve her protection, nor her kindness. If anyone was a danger to the people around them, it would be you two, not her."

"I am sad to hear you would think that, Shu." Argo simply replied with a disappointed shake of his head. "Especially since we are actually mankind's last hope of survival. All we really wanted was to make you remember your role in this war. You are the man who is supposed to save the world. Just like the way you had done it five years ago. You were a bloody hero, inspiring us all. We merely want that man back, no matter the cost."

"That man never existed in the first place. He was just a phony who pretended to be a hero because everyone around him had wanted him to be one. They had been in need of someone to put their faith in and I had merely assumed the role like my void was assuming many things that day. I never wanted to be a hero, nor did I view myself as one. It had all been you who had declared me one, never me." The king explained seriously.

"Then that's fine as well. It doesn't matter if you call yourself a hero as long as you act like one. We can't do this without you, and so you will have to rise as one again, whether you want to or not." The rebel leader looked over to two of his subordinates and gestured for them to come over by nudging his head into Shu's direction. One of them stepped forward with a pistol in his hand, handing it to Shu, who only looked down on it in disgust.

"What's this now, Argo?" He wanted to know.

"I told you. We want you to prove your loyalty by killing Inori. Show us that you are still on the side of humanity and not an enemy instead. Make us want to follow you again."

"I would sooner shoot every one of you and myself before even aiming that weapon anywhere close to Inori's general direction." He declared his absolute refusal with a glare cold as ice.

"Sadly, you won't be able to do that, as there is only one bullet loaded in that pistol. Needless to say, if you fail to kill Inori, we will do so instead. Though I would really prefer for you to do it so that everyone can start believing in you again. You could also avoid making her feel more pain than she needs to."

"Why don't you just shoot me instead and be done with it?" Shu retorted with gritted teeth. "I will never hurt Inori."

"No, Shu! You can't! "His queen objected heavily. "I won't let you die, even if it costs me my life!" Her determination was burning in her eyes like the fire of a thousand suns, making every rebel gulp as she looked at every one of them threateningly. It was as if she was saying "Touch him and you will meet your end." She absolutely couldn't afford losing Shu. Unlike her, he wasn't immortal. If he died, that's it. She would never get him back. She would rather die than live in a world without him. Except, she couldn't. If she were to lose Shu, she would be forced to live on without him forever. A fate worse than death.

"Listen to your girlfriend, Shu. Try seeing this from our point of view. What would we gain from killing you? A replacement for you wouldn't be able to command the Genesis…also, who could really step into the shoes of a hero? No one around here is as famous as you are. Everyone came here because they heard your name. It has to be you who leads." Argo explained to him with a shrug as if the things he said were obvious. The king growled.

"Oh, so now you want the Genesis? You people sounded eager enough to get rid of them as soon as possible." Shu retorted with Inori nodding at that.

"You think the Genesis would even continue fighting at your side? After you have killed me?" Agreeing yells came from the hostages, fully supporting the queen's claim. But Argo kept cool as always.

"They won't have a choice now, do they? To get you back, they must defeat Da'ath to get a hold of the gateway to the void realm. You will serve as Shu's and their motivation to attack the enemy just like last time. That way, we are assured that Shu will try his utmost to get you back and, through that, defeat the enemy." His words made Haruka clench the railing of the platforms she and the others were standing on.

"What an especially cruel kind of blackmail this all is. Forcing someone to kill their loved ones only to make them fix the mistake themselves after having been forced to commit it in the first place…" she mumbled, apparently loudly enough for Argo to still hear her.

"Do you have the right to complain about cruelty when it was you who schemed for your own son to have his arm cut off?" A smug grin appeared on his lips when he saw the brunette scientist look at him in surprise.

"What? Did you think I wouldn't know? I was there when Tsugumi went through the GHQ files she managed to get her hands on. We decided together which ones needed to be deleted and which ones were fine to leave." He explained to her to which Tsugumi could do little but offer the woman an apologetic look.

"I am sorry, Haruka-mama. I never thought Argo of all people would turn out to be so untrustworthy…" The last bit was directed at the rebel leader again, eyes suddenly ice cold as she looked down on him. It was true, though. They had both gone through the files together when Tsugumi had deleted them to erase any files that could even be remotely used to track down Undertakers. Argo had been there to reduce her workload, after all, she couldn't possibly have read and evaluated ALL the files GHQ had amassed. Ayase had helped as well, by the way.

"It's okay, Tsugumi. It's not like I had kept it a secret…I just had hoped I would be able to finally forget…" She responded with sad, downcast eyes. Argo made it sound like she had actually wanted that to happen to Shu where in actuality, she had just tried to make a bad situation slightly less bad. After all, if the option had been for Shu to either die or lose an arm, any mother would reluctantly go for the latter, right? And it's not like she hadn't tried to avoid such an option altogether…

"Don't bring up unrelated stuff from the past, Argo. This isn't about mother. This is about you and your obvious madness." Shu decided to get his mother out of the firing line. He had long known of this, she had confessed it to him herself. He was over it, especially since she had made clear to him how little choice she had actually had in that matter. This, however, was different. There were many ways to solve this problem…ways he had offered Argo himself. Yet the man in question kept denying all alternatives. He was deadest on this act of stupidity, not realizing that this would hurt not only Shu and Inori, but everyone else Argo was trying to "save" that way.

"This isn't madness at all, Shu. This is the way we will ensure our survival."

"How will you survive the apocalypse virus?" Inori then wanted to know. "Once I am gone, you will all suffer its effects and surely the military won't hand out vaccines to criminals, will they?"

"That's where you are wrong, Inori. Your services are no longer needed." Argo replied with a confident look plastered on his face, catching Shu and Inori off-guard who had been sure that her argument had been sound.

"You must be even crazier than I thought if you believe the SDF would actually give you vaccines unless you surrendered…" Shu claimed with irritation in his voice, but the man in front of him only shrugged at him.

"We don't need the SDF's vaccines. We have our own ones."

"What?" Both monarchs looked at him in utter disbelief. He must be lying. It was a bluff, a shameless bluff!

"It's true. I saw it myself." Juan chose to confirm Argo's claim with folded arms. "I saw a huge amount of crates filled with vaccines lying around in the storage room next to the garage.

"That's ridiculous, why would there be-" Shu started to call them out on what he thought was an obvious lie, when he suddenly remembered something. From the looks of it, Inori did too, seeing as to how she was frowning bitterly. The cargo those two newbies stole a while ago…it had been full of vaccines. But there was no way that stuff was still around, right? The king hesitatingly looked up to Yahiro, eyes clearly saying: "You disposed of them, right?" in a slightly desperate manner, only to get opened wide when he saw his friend bite down on his lower lip and look away in shame.

To be honest, Yahiro had forgotten all about it until now. But could you blame him for that? Up until yesterday, he and Jun had had all their hands full with being in charge of the terrorist group and, back when the newbies had brought in the vaccines, they had not even posed the slightest bit of a threat which had been the reason he had deemed it unnecessary to dispose of them in the first place. Naturally, under the current circumstances, he would have gotten rid of them immediately…if only he would have remembered that they had still existed, collecting dust in some corner of a storage room. He was just a human being, too. He made mistakes from time to time as well. Though it kind of bothered him that he had seriously overlooked this obvious flaw until now.

Shu for his part could only curse mentally as he clenched his fists. He and Inori slowly ran out of alternatives and excuses to avoid the fate Argo had in store for them. Would he really be forced to go through with it? Was there no other way?

"It appears you understand, Shu. Good. Then please proceed. Take the gun and show us your loyalty." Argo demanded of him. He had never felt the need to spit someone into their face as much as he did now. He managed to restrain himself, though.

"I will give you one more chance, Argo." The king told him threateningly, anger clearly burning in his eyes as he spoke. "Call this stupid rebellion off. We will all go back to sleep and when morning comes, we will all just pretend that this was all just a horrible and stupid joke. And we will never speak of it again."

To his disappointment, though not to his surprise, the rebel leader only shook his head slowly once he had heard the offer.

"I can't do that, Shu. I wouldn't have gone so far if I hadn't thought it was absolutely necessary. I am already convinced that this is the only way. Now, Shu. Will you prove your loyalty or will you force us to ensure our own survival? The choice is yours, but please do choose fast. We don't have all night." The ex-soldier gestured towards the Undertaker who was still holding the pistol for Shu to take. The king couldn't help but clench his fists in anger as he looked down, making it impossible for everyone to see his eyes due to his hair obscuring the view.

He couldn't believe this was actually happening. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have encountered such a barbaric scenario. He? Killing Inori? If, by chance, a god had granted him a vision today, telling him that something like that would be happening later tonight, he would have laughed at him, calling him a god of lies. That's how ridiculous he had thought it to be. Not even when she had become Eve and he hadn't been sure what that would have meant for them yet, had he been able to envision himself going through with it. And now, despite the odds, when it had turned out that nothing would change for them, that they actually could keep going just like before, it was this…this rebellious scum who would ruin it all? Outrageous! To even think he had thought of Argo as a friend before…and don't even get him started on Juan…

He walked over to the Undertaker holding the pistol for him to take and he looked down on the weapon with scorn and disgust. So they meant for him to use this to kill his queen with his own hands? To put her down like a mere rabid dog? The sheer nerve of them...he started to wonder how they would like getting that treatment for themselves. Heck, he would go along with it if he could. To ask a man to kill the woman he loved for such a foolish reason such as proving loyalty. Screw loyalty! Who would want to be loyal to scum who operated like this? He gritted his teeth as he reluctantly raised his hand to grab the gun. Never before had his arm felt this heavy and slow and never before had a weapon felt so cold and repulsive as his fingers wrapped themselves around it. It was as if every fiber of his body was rejecting that piece of metal, unwilling to have any part in the foolishness it was to be used for. This was all so wrong.

Argo, however, seemed to be relieved, sporting a satisfied smile on his lips as he saw the king take the firearm.

"A wise decision, Shu. You will not regret it." He told him. What kind of joke was that supposed to be? Shu couldn't even laugh. He regretted it already and it wasn't even done yet. His eyes met the men's ones who had given him the gun. His expression immediately warped into one of surprise. This face…he knew it. Wasn't this one of the two newbies who had brought in the vaccines in the first place? This one was the bulkier one with black hair so…what was his name again? Yuuta? Yufka? Wait, wasn't it actually Yuita? Hell, who even cared! He grabbed the man by his collar and glared at him angrily, causing the man to meet his eyes with nothing but confusion in return.

"You…!" The king hissed in utter hatred. On closer inspection, the other guy, Ryusei, was it? He was standing not far behind him as well. These punks…

"I was the one who gave you a second chance. Without me, you wouldn't even be standing here! You _dare_ do this to us now?" He spat at the man furiously. He seriously couldn't believe what he was seeing right now. Bad enough to have Argo on the rebel side, but even people he himself had showed kindness to? Does no one in this world even remember gratitude? Yuita only offered him a big smile, effectively catching the king off-guard.

"That's true. It was you, who had believed in us when everyone else had thought we were hopeless. This is why we chose to believe in you now, too. We will repay your kindness by reminding you who you really are. You are a hero, Shu. A hero who would put the world before even himself."

Shu only looked at him, totally dumbfounded. Was this guy serious? Ah, so that's how it was. He was actually dealing with idiots here. There was no other explanation to this stupidity.

"The world…? Last time I saved the world, did you know how I felt?" He asked him as he tightened the grip on his collar, clearly hurting him. He only shook his head helplessly.

"Would you like to know…? Should I show you?" The darkness and despair he had felt back then. It slowly returned to him now that he tried to remember it. How he had been done with the world. Even going as far as to wishing it would all just go away. Since he had been stuck into a world of darkness, shouldn't everyone else be burdened with it as well? That had been his thoughts for the first few weeks after he had made the public announcement of the apocalypse virus' disappearance. When he had seen everyone else beside him so happy, he had felt negative emotions such as envy and anger rise up inside him. Back then, he had secretly formed wishes to make others suffer like he had. His friends and mother had helped him to recover, to stay away from the path that would have undoubtedly led to his ruin. The dark thought had vanished as soon as they had appeared with no one beside him ever knowing that they had been there in the first place. But now, he kind of felt these wishes resurface. Wasn't it alright, though? These guys who tried to make him do stuff he didn't even want to think about…wouldn't they deserve such a treatment?

After all…when willing to take a life, shouldn't one be ready to get killed as well?

"Shu!" A sudden exclamation from Haruka brought him out of his thoughts. He realized that he had dropped the gun and was now raising the index and middle finger of his free hand to point directly at his victim's eyes, threatening to ram them into them, thus blinding him. As the man was staring at him in fear, some of the Undertakers had shifted their focus from Inori over to him, aiming their rifles directly at his head now. His friends seemed shocked and his queen downright terrified at the mere prospect of seeing her king getting shot.

"Don't shoot him!" She yelled as loudly as she could, clearly in panic. Then she added in a slightly quieter, almost helpless tone: "Please…"

This effectively brought Shu back to his senses. He immediately lowered his hand as he shook his head. This was followed by pushing the fool in his grip away forcibly, before he could even think about doing anything to him again. This had been close, he realized. Had this desperate situation caused him to lose control of the darkness he had assumed together with the voids of the prisoners he had taken during the last battle? Or was he actually losing control over his own darkness? He couldn't even tell anymore. Fucked up situations such as this made it hard to keep your inner demons in check, after all. And heck, he had lots of them hiding inside his heart, be it his own or the ones of others. It didn't matter. They all wanted to come out, nonetheless.

The problem was that he started believing that sometimes, they should. He was tired of keeping them in check. And at times like these, he just felt like giving in to them. But no matter if it was right or wrong, he clearly couldn't and shouldn't. For if he acted up now, he and Inori could end up both getting killed. That, certainly, wouldn't be worth it. And thus he managed to seal his dark thoughts back to where they belonged. Back into the deepest parts of his heart.

"Have you seen it when you looked into my eyes?" He eventually asked the man he had just pushed away, who was still staring at him in utter disbelief.

"This was only but a fraction of the darkness I felt back then. As you can see, I have always regretted the outcome. Put the world over myself a second time? Don't make me laugh. Not even the king of masochists would go along with that." He told him coldly as he picked up the gun he had dropped. A weak smile appeared on his lips.

"Then again…maybe I have a tendency to be masochistic…after all…why else do I keep showing kindness to people who just don't deserve it?" His smile became somewhat ominous as he now looked down on the man on the floor with utter contempt.

"Turns out Yahiro was right all along. I should have listened. I would have been better off had I just shot you guys on the spot. I wonder when I will finally learn that there are times in which kindness is required and then there are times when it's not. This is the price I keep paying for my foolishness." He grumbled the last bit as he turned around.

History always repeated itself, yet it was him who just never learned. There were people who deserved kindness, and there were people who clearly didn't. Showing too little was bad, but showing too much was equally bad, if not worse. After all, it led to Arisa now working with Da'ath. Or these guys now shamelessly helping Agro with that stupid plan of his. He should have never bothered. As he realized that, he felt something inside him break apart and fly away. He had the feeling it was his faith in humanity.

The brunette king eventually decided to address Argo again, expression purely serious.

"I understand that nothing I will say will get through that thick skull of yours, Argo. But there is something you will need to understand as well. Which is that betrayal always comes with a price. If you wish for me to go along with your scheme, you better be prepared to pay your price."

"It's not betrayal, Shu. It's setting you back on the right path." Argo merely replied to which the king only shook his head disapprovingly.

"Call your lunacy however you want, it won't change its nature. And I won't go along with it until you understand that if you ask me to pay the highest of prices, I will ask the same of you in return. Are you ready for that, Argo?"

The rebel leader frowned. "I came here with the intention of doing anything I need to set you back on course. State your price."

"Before I do that, let me confirm your wish. You want me to remove Inori from the picture, is that right?" Shu asked with scorn. Argo nodded confidently, despite the cold look of the king.

"Then the price for that is as follows: Once it is done, as soon as the sun rises again, the next time we meet, I will kill you. Do you understand?"

The rebels started yelling in protest, calling this deal unnecessary and urged Argo to refuse it. Shu nearly started to laugh at this display of bias. So it was fine to ask for Inori's death, yet Argo's was too much to ask for? Don't make him laugh.

"If you refuse to take responsibility for your actions, I will simply claim the lives of every Undertaker instead. I won't even care if they say they weren't part of this folly. I will judge them all regardless. I will either have my compensation, or you will have to kill me as well. What will it be, Argo?" Shu added to the man's pressure. He wouldn't allow him to get an easy way out. If he wanted to mess with him, then he would have to go through this torment. Argo wanted him to put the world before him? Let's see if he was willing to do the same.

The rebels immediately shut their traps, having heard that Argo's refusal would possibly mean their death's as well. So much for their loyalty, eh? Their leader himself had closed his eyes and folded his arms in front of him, apparently deep in thought. Everyone waited patiently for his response. Eventually, he opened his eyes again, finding Shu's ones with utter determination.

"I understand. If this is what you want in return, I will accept your terms. If you want me gone, I will leave."

Tsugumi stared at him in utter disbelief. "Are you serious? Just call this idiotic rebellion off and be done with it. There is no need for you to go this far for such a stupid thing, Argo." To her understanding, this was the only reason Shu even proposed such a harsh deal.

"I have come too far to back off now. If my banishment from the Undertakers is required for everyone else to get saved, then it is a small price to pay." He told her. After all, Shu stated that he had time until sunrise to leave, it was a merciful deal if you considered what Argo asked off him in return. He would accept it.

"Though the only reason I even gave you the chance to run is because we had been friends once. I would have asked for your head on the spot otherwise…" The king explained with a growl, realizing that Argo was serious when he said he would go along with it. It had been his last chance to pull back and he had thrown it away. Now there was no turning back anymore. He walked forward until he stood directly in front of Argo.

"So this is it, then? Inori's removal for your life? Are you sure?"

"Yes." He saw the king offer him his hand, though not in the slightest bit friendly as his facial expression was the embodiment of hostility. To seal the deal, Argo took it anyway and despite the fact that Shu's grip on him was a tad bit too strong, he avoided crying out in pain. Eventually, the king let go of him.

"Then it is done. The next time we meet, you will be a dead man, Argo. Don't forget that."

"It's sad that it came down to this, Shu." The man said, but Shu had already turned around and walked away, showing him how little he cared about him anymore. Their friendship was over.

"You have no one but yourself to blame for that." Was all he said in response.

When he finally found his way over to Inori, all his anger and bitterness got replaced by sadness. Not a single word had to be uttered between them, for the look they were giving each other at this moment said it all. Their regret, their unwillingness…it was all too obvious that neither of them truly wanted this.

He wanted her to be angry with him, to resent him for his readiness to go through with this, yet all he saw was a kind and understanding, though also sad smile. It was as if she told him: "If this is your wish, then I will embrace death for you." It made him look away, pained to even look at her. How could she be so willing to die for him? This was not at all what he wanted. But perhaps she knew that, since his feelings were constantly reaching her. Maybe it was because of that, that she chose to accept her fate so readily…

"I never thought it would come down to this…" He told her with a pained sounding voice, looking down on the pistol in his left hand.

"Me neither…" She looked down in sadness as well.

"Are you afraid?" He saw her shaking her head. Brave girl.

"Then you are stronger than me." He responded to that with a weak smile, looking down on his slightly shaking hand. "I don't want to do this, Inori…" His voice was now a whisper, barely even audible. He was scared of what was to become of them now. Their future sure would look bleak from now on. That was the moment he felt her putting her arms around him, pulling him closer while gently stroking his hair.

"Don't be afraid, Shu. Everything will be fine. Whatever is to happen to me, I will always be at your side. I promised as such, did I not?" She said to him kindly.

"You did." Another smile appeared on his lips. This time a slightly relieved one. It was as if her voice was able to give him new strength. With new resolve, he answered her: "And I have not the slightest intention of handing you over to anyone. Not even death." He took her into his arms as well, holding her close.

"Then death shall not have me." He heard her whisper into his ear. He nodded at that. Their little moment was, however, rudely interrupted by Argo clearing his throat. The king turned around to him with a scowl, but eventually separated from his queen, offering her a sad look again.

"Close your eyes, Inori." He forced those words out of him as he slowly lifted the pistol to direct the harmful end at her. She complied with no hesitation. Not the slightest bit of fear was present on her eyes before they vanished behind her eyelids.

The Genesis apparently couldn't take it anymore. An uproar started in which they all yelled for him to stop.

"Don't do it, my king!"

"There must be another way!"

"Just give us the word and we will kill this rebel scum in your and the queen's name!"

Their oppressors immediately tried to shut them up, but to no avail. The Genesis would not calm down like this. Meanwhile, the Undertakers who were still pointing their rifles at Inori and Shu were roaring as well, though the contents of their roars differed greatly form the words the Genesis uttered.

"What are you waiting for?"

"This is for the best of everyone!"

The last word had Juan: "Do it!"

Then the king pulled the trigger…

As if that would have ever happened.

Instead, in his void hand a small, baseball-like void appeared. He pressed the button on its surface and threw it up high into the air, followed by looking away. The small orb made a small mechanical noise as the hull opened up and revealed a gleaming light to its surroundings, blinding everyone but him who was looking away and his queen, who had her eyes closed. While everyone was exclaiming their surprise and covered their eyes in pain, Shu summoned Ayase's void to him next, allowing it to wrap itself around his legs. He immediately started levitating above the ground, followed by him grabbing his queen hastily and pulling her over his shoulder, catching her by surprise.

"Shu?"

"Hold on tight, Inori. We are making a run for it." That's right, as if he would ever kill his beloved queen. Screw these Undertakers! They could all go to hell for all he cared. He would come back for the Genesis, his friends and family later, but first, he needed to get Inori into safety, away from these lunatics. He lifted off, heading straight for one of the skylights present on the roof.

"As if I would let you!" Juan appeared to recover the fastest and attempted to get in their way by blocking their path. Little did he expect the king to not care either way. Instead of trying to slow down or avoid him, he flew right at him, knowing fully well that the islander would not launch his explosives at him in close quarter combat as he would also stand risk of damaging himself.

"Wha-?" He didn't manage to utter more than that, getting frontally tackled and knocked off his void. Instead of falling down towards the ground, however, he got dragged around by the king, who pushed him forward, using him like a human shield as he attempted to break through the thick glass of the window.

"Wait!" Juan tried to say but got ignored. The king mercilessly rammed him against the window, causing it to break as they slammed against it. The younger man cried out in pain and blood ran down his face, signaling that he must have gotten cut during the event. The people below ran away from the shards of glass that now rained down on them.

"Don't let them escape!" The few rebel Genesis that had joined Juan's cause now regained their vision as well. They yelled after them and one of them aimed his void at the fleeing monarchs which was a grappling hook launcher. Once shot, the projectile flew straight at the king. Inori who saw that, tried to warn Shu, but there was too little time. The brunette man could only see the pointy gadget fly straight at his leg and managed to dispel Ayase's void just in time to avoid letting it get harmed. Unfortunately, his leg was not that lucky. It pierced right through his left lower leg and once it came out on the other side, it extended the mechanical actual grappling hook claws, which took a firm hold of the limp, clasping it tightly with its mechanical strength.

"Guargh!" Shu could not withhold a painful scream once the object made contact with him. He was sure he had felt his bones break once when the accused void had went through his leg and once more after the claws had grabbed him. Furthermore, since Ayase's void got dispelled, they all fell on top of the roof, though luckily, the fall wasn't very high. Juan and Inori managed to land safely by rolling off, where Shu only managed to crash onto the building clumsily, getting obstructed by the pain in his leg and the grappling hook that now pulled on him.

"I got him!" They heard the void user exclaim happily, followed by other ones telling him to reel him back in quickly. He must have used an automatic retrieve-function, since the hook started pulling him back rather quickly and brutally. It hurt like hell. He summoned Yahiro's shears in an attempt to cut loose, but the speed in which he got pulled back combined with his tears that obstructed his view, he only managed to flail around in vain, missing the string that the hook was attached to constantly. This was bad, if nothing was done, he would eventually get pulled back into the window and fall several meters deep into his doom, unless they managed to catch him, which he didn't expect them to do.

"Shu!" Luckily, his queen came to his help in time. Running up to him, she formed a crystal blade in her right hand and mercilessly cut the line that dragged her king back into the lion's den without a second thought. The void broke apart soon after, with the corresponding void user's cries reaching their ears from the room below. Sadly, with the void gone, the gaping hole in Shu's leg allowed his blood to spill out, making Inori's eyes open wide. She quickly removed her overcoat and started wrapping it around his wound tightly to slow down the blood loss, hoping it would do for now. At least until they were safe enough to give him some proper treatment for it.

"Can you stand, Shu? We have to hurry!" She asked him worriedly, to which he only winced in pain.

"My leg's broken." He told her, trying to bear with the pain. She helped him up by lending him her shoulder. "God, this hurts so bad…"

She saw how Ayase's void reappeared on him, however, only on his good leg. She wasn't sure if Shu deliberately only summoned half of it, or if the void itself would not allow him to equip the other half on his bad leg. It seemed to work, though, but the output was weak. He wouldn't be able to fly very fast with it and extravagant maneuvers would probably be impossible as well. He quickly picked her up again with both his arms this time and attempted to fly off, when all of a sudden Juan decided to interfere again.

"You are going nowhere!" He said as he clung to Shu's good leg, throwing him off balance and preventing him from flying properly.

"The queen must die while she is still pure! She cannot be allowed to become another Mana!" He yelled while Shu tried to shake him off.

"Let go of me, you damn traitor!" Shu growled angrily. He would kick him off if only he could move his bad leg. That was when Inori finally managed to get a hold of him, grabbing him by the hood of his coat. He immediately responded by grabbing her hand as soon as he saw that Shu had put some distance between the ground and himself. If he were to fall now, things would end up ugly.

"You have caused this, haven't you?" He then heard her say with narrowed eyes and gulped once he realized that he was now in the grasp of the person he had just tried to kill.

"I…I have. But, my queen! I did it for you!" He told her truthfully.

"For me?" She asked with suspicion in her voice.

"Yes! I just couldn't stand seeing you become another Mana! I had to protect my queen from herself!" He explained to her desperately. But the queen's expression only darkened.

"You made people point weapons at children…"

"Ah but we never intended to…" He tried to dish out excused, but Inori wouldn't let him finish.

"You got Shu hurt…" His eyes widened once he heard the hostility in her voice.

"It…it wasn't me, your grace!"

"All for such a stupid reason…Mana here, Mana there. I am not Mana. Mana is gone. I am Inori, no one else!"

"I…I know! I was wrong. Forgive me!" He pleaded, now with tears in his eyes. Looking down, he could see the streets of Yokohama from quite a few meters above ground level. It clearly unnerved him. Especially since gravity continued to pull him down, causing him to lose his grip on her.

"Don't listen to him, Inori." Shu butted in with a grunt, still in quite some pain. "He is an ass who betrayed us out of stupid paranoia. Someone who does not understand that you are you and only you, does not deserve forgiveness. Besides, he is quite heavy…"

"Shu…" She looked at him with sympathy, especially once she saw his badly hurt leg. Then she closed her eyes, letting out a small sigh, followed by looking at Juan again.

"I forgive you, Juan. For falsely believing I would become Mana. It seems I will never get rid of that burden…" She said sadly. Shu could only bite his lower lip in disdain. He wished he could say something to prove her wrong about that, but sadly, people like Juan were living proof to her worries. Apparently, people would continue to compare her to his late sister even if she was already gone. He hated it, especially since it showed how little people understood of her, but he couldn't change it. At least not now. Eventually he would, though. Some day for sure. He would show it to them all.

"Thank you! Thank you very much!" Juan suddenly exclaimed happily. Of course he would, Shu thought. Inori's kindness had saved him yet again. Even though he didn't deserve it. Shu disagreed with her decision, but would accept it if it was her wish.

Both men had thought that this was the end of that, only to get surprised by Inori's sudden change in tone. The sadness and disappointment from before vanished and got replaced by seriousness, combined with a harsh, judging look in her eyes.

"However, for endangering the Genesis and hurting Shu…I won't."

The islander's eyes got suddenly filled with despair and his mouth slowly opened up from shock as he realized what her words meant. He saw her look down on her hand that still held him and panic befell him.

"No, wait…!"

"You have served me well for many years, Juan. For that, I thank you." She told him with a monotonous voice.

"I was deceived! Mercy!" He begged loudly, looking down every once in a while in absolute horror.

"However, your services are no longer needed, therefore I release you of your duties." She continued.

"No…" Shu saw him shedding tears of regret. It was too late now. No mercy for traitors. They did not deserve any kindness. Not from him, nor Inori.

The trio then suddenly saw a whirling mass of silver thread flying over their way. Juan visibly rejoiced once he realized that it was his void returning to him. If he used it…

"I will be taking this…" The islander's eyes widened as he saw the king's void glow, followed by it absorbing the silver threads that made up his void before they could return to its original possessor.

"Wait, I promise to take it and never return. You will never see me again! Just give it back to me, please! I beg you!"

However, the king's expression remained mostly stoic, though he couldn't quite hide the troubles he had with his leg.

"If you aim for someone's life, always be ready to lose yours in return. You attempted to kill Inori, so this is the price you will have to pay for that crime."

"You can't do that! You have no right!" Juan objected heavily, only to get silenced by Inori.

"He can. For he is Adam, and I am Eve. Those who hurt us will not be forgiven. This is farewell, Juan Diaz. May you find peace in death."

"Please, my queen…don't do this!"

Said woman looked down on him coldly. "I am your queen no longer."

She let go.

"No, no, no, noooo!"

The cries of the falling man echoed through the dark night and grew fainter the more he distanced himself from them through the help of gravity. Soon his voice subsided, leaving the two monarchs to the silence of the night. That was until Shu decided to break it.

"It is done." He informed his queen of the man's demise as he felt the void he had taken slowly crumble away in his void arm. The pink haired woman who rested in his arms did not look pleased, nor sad. Just tired, as if the action had somewhat drained her.

"Strangely enough, it wasn't the slightest bit pleasant." She told him in return.

"I don't think it is meant to be. That didn't make it wrong, though."

"You think so, too?" She saw him nod.

"Being a good queen does not mean you never get to do stuff like this. Neither does being a good king." He suddenly winced and held Inori tighter, out of fear he would accidentally drop her.

"Are you okay, Shu?" She asked him worriedly. "Is it your injury?"

"Yes, the pain is…quite bothersome." He said with a hiss as he looked down on his broken leg. Blood slowly dripped from the cloth Inori had wrapped around it. The burning sensation slowly drove him mad. He tried to not move it that much, knowing it was better that way, but being in midair, it was somewhat impossible.

"We need to find a place for you to rest…" His queen said determinedly. "Your wound needs treatment as soon as possible…"

"But there is…nowhere to go…" Shu had to admit tiredly. His home was most likely still under watch, same with the homes of his friends. The hospital was a clear no-go, too. But wait, hospital? It wasn't quite the same thing, but there was a promising alternative. It may not really offer much in terms of treatment, but at least it would serve as a good temporary hideout.

"I know of a place we might be able to stay at…let's go." He saw Inori giving him an agreeing nod, thus he set himself into motion, hoping he would get to lie down soon before his pain would kill him.

And just like that, the silhouettes of the two runaway monarchs vanished into the darkness of the cold winter night, with no one but themselves knowing where their destination lied.

For the first time in forever, they were completely alone again, with no followers to stand behind them.

They were not exactly sure yet if that was a good or a bad thing….but one thing was for sure.

Even if they had been betrayed…even if they were alone…they still had each other

And as long as that was the case, nothing could bring them down. Absolutely nothing. It was what they thought, at least.

Hopefully, they were right.


	20. Beginning of the end

**20\. Beginning of the end**

The journey through the dark night was a cold and tiresome one. It was late and most lights in the city were off, save for a few street lamps…little good did they do the two monarchs that far down on the ground when the couple floated way above them in the air. At least there still was the faint moonlight which illuminated their surroundings just well enough for them to see each other's faces.

The wind was also unforgiving, blowing the harsh winter air directly into their faces mercilessly. Shu hid his lower face under his thick scarf in an attempt to protect at least part of it from the biting cold. He took a glance at Inori only to get surprised by how fine she actually looked in his arms, observing their surroundings vigilantly without even flinching because of the low temperature. She wasn't even wearing her overcoat anymore since it had been wrapped around his nasty leg wound. Somehow, just looking at her made him shiver.

"Inori, aren't you cold?" He eventually couldn't help but ask her, to which he only received a slow shake of the head from her.

"Your feelings are keeping me warm, remember? I don't even feel the cold." She explained to him, making him stare at her in complete bafflement.

"Even to this extent?" They were quite far up, the winds were definitely cold and there was no sun that could even remotely provide a bit of warmth. He could even see their breaths coming out of their mouths as they talked. She only tilted her head in confusion.

"I can feel the wind, but is it really cold? It just feels like wind. Neither cold, nor hot. I believe I wouldn't even be able to tell the temperature if I were completely naked. Not as long as I am near you." She sounded a bit happy during the last part, slightly lifting his own mood as well.

"Lucky you. Being Eve sure is amazing, huh?"

She nodded with a small smile. "It is." Then the smile suddenly vanished, getting replaced by a frown. "At least if you aren't getting betrayed by your friends because of it…"

Shu's mood deteriorated alongside hers as he narrowed his eyes in a clearly displeased manner.

"Yeah…"

He still couldn't believe that actually happened. Betrayed. By Undertakers, led by Argo of all people. What the hell had that idiot been thinking? The sheer nerve of him. Of them! Urgh, he couldn't deal with this right now and neither did he want to. He was tired and his leg was killing him. He just wanted to find a place for him and Inori to rest at for the night. Just a few hours would do…

Their destination was the old Apocalypse Virus Research Institute. Back in the days, it had been a small private hospital run by Tokyo University which attempted to treat victims of the apocalypse virus. Their goal had been to find a cure to the virus using their own research and methods, distancing themselves from GHQ. The idea had been to not solely rely on foreign help when trying to tackle your own problems. However, results were never achieved due to the arrival of the fourth apocalypse. The head scientist and funder of the project had died to the virus that day, followed by it simply vanishing from existence as a whole, rendering the project utterly useless. After all, what good was a study to combat a virus that no longer existed?

Following these events, the scientists had packed their stuff and left, trying to find a better area to focus their thoughts on and leaving the building vacant. But only for a short while, as the resulting chaos in the aftermath of the fourth apocalypse had given birth to a paradise for a certain minority living in Tokyo. At least temporarily.

With the head scientist and man in charge of the facility dead, there had been no one to report the cancellation of the project and since the sudden change of government caused quite a mess, no one had even felt the need to check, having obviously other, more important things to worry about. That had meant that, from the dead head scientist's bank account, money had continued to get deducted to pay for electricity, rent and heating for at least one or two months until word of his death had finally reached the right people, causing the account to get suspended.

Of course, the word of the street had passed on quite fast. The homeless had been quick to catch on that there was an empty building nearby that offered warmth and electricity for free. Just like moths to a light, they had gathered there faster than anyone could have stopped them, making that place the sanctuary of the poor and forgotten. And even after the mess had somewhat gotten cleared up and electricity had eventually stopped flowing, they simply remained there, refusing to leave even when Tokyo U had demanded their eviction so that they could use the building again.

It turned out that the eviction of the homeless would have needed quite a few police officers to carry out due to the homeless' heavy resistance and unwillingness to leave. However, with the chaos from the forth apocalypse only barely under control at the time, the police couldn't have afforded wasting resources on "low priority" problems such as these. Not while they had still been busy keeping the crime rate low with all their might.

The military had also just been in its baby shoes, not to mention that they wouldn't have handled such a matter anyway. It simply hadn't been important at all, so Tokyo U had been told to give it up for time being, which it reluctantly eventually had. The building was still held by homeless to this very day, or so Shu had heard, which made it a suitable option for him and Inori. They could simply blend in with them and hide among them. And if problems would arise, they could silently slip away in the confusion that would undoubtedly arise.

That didn't mean things would end up being a walk in the park, though. For one, they were terrorists, and even though Inori's face had yet to appear on "Wanted!"-posters, his one was already well known throughout the city. Heck, it had already been known even before he became a terrorist again. That being said, homeless weren't stupid. They would recognize him, given the chance. And if that happened, they would undoubtedly rat him out to the military.

Then there was his darn broken leg which sent him into constant agony. He tried keeping it cool, having gone through worse pain before already, but who was he kidding? It hurt. A lot. He needed treatment, and even though that abandoned research institute used to be a hospital, he doubted that he would be getting any proper treatment there.

Related to that, his stamina was also running out already. He had barely caught any sleep and using Ayase's void with just one leg required quite a bit of energy from his part since you needed to stay airborne with only half of the void, meaning you would have to double the power output. He was positive that the only reason he was even still able to keep going was because of the rush of adrenaline from earlier. As he gradually calmed down, however, his fatigue slowly returned to him, and he was almost sure Inori was far worse off than him, having spent all day on crafting these useless blessings…ironically meant for the very people who had now caused them to try their luck on the cold, harsh streets of a locked-down Tokyo.

Their quality of life hadn't exactly been very high before, but it sure as hell sucked now.

As if to visualize the king's lack of stamina, the sole remaining half of Ayase's void on his foot started to lose some of its glow and a sound as if its power was slowly dying out reached their ears It caused the queen to look at him quite worriedly as they gradually lost more and more altitude.

"Are you okay, Shu?"

"I'm sorry, Inori. We have to land…I…can't keep us airborne anymore." He told her with a pained expression. She only nodded at that understandingly.

"It's okay. We are almost there. We can make the rest of the way by you leaning on me."

"We can't go there yet. We might run into people. They would recognize me…" He told her as he slowly landed on the streets below. Inori got off first, followed by lending him her shoulder before he dismissed the void, letting almost his whole weight crash on her.

"Sorry. Am I heavy?" He was quick to apologize as he leaned on her, avoiding to put any unnecessary weight on his broken leg. He figured that he was experiencing quite enough pain already as it was and thus didn't need to cause additional discomfort for himself.

"Don't worry, Shu. We are Genesis now, remember? I think even carrying you would be possible for a short while." She offered him as she saw him wince in pain.

"I appreciate the offer, but you can't. It will look suspicious. Also, avoid using crystals as well, please. I will do the same with voids, too. They would give us away."

"Okay." She nodded in agreement. They slowly checked their surroundings to see if anyone was around to have witnessed them landing on the streets, but there was no one around at this late hour. Lucky for them.

"We need to find a way to hide our faces. Or at least mine…" Shu then thought out aloud while they took a quick rest against the wall of a nearby building. The abandoned research facility was right in front of them, just a few minutes of walking away, yet it also appeared to be so far away for someone in Shu's condition. One step could easily feel like five to him.

That's when Inori appeared to have spotted something.

"Wait here, Shu. I will be right back." She told him and helped him to sit down.

"I think going somewhere is the last thing I will be doing right now." He jokingly responded with a pained voice. "Where are you going?"

"I will take a quick look around, see if I can find something we can use. I think there is a store of some sort down the street…" She looked into the direction in which she thought said store was at. Shu followed her line of sight but couldn't really see anything since he was sitting and couldn't even look past the parked cars at the side of the street.

"Can't see it, but sounds like a plan." He told her with a nod. She formed a small crystal clump in her hand and handed it to him, then took out the pistol she had been carrying on a holster strapped around her right thigh, hidden under her clothes, and handed it to him as well. She wondered if the Undertakers would have taken it away from her, if they had known she had been carrying it all this time. Then again, they probably hadn't expected her to. Why should she have, if she could have easily used crystals? Well, old habits are hard to kill. She had grabbed one and brought it with her before she had even known it.

"Take it, Shu. If enemies appear, it will keep you safe long enough for me to make it back in time. We can keep in touch using crystals."

"Wait, what about you…?" He obviously didn't feel good about sending her out while taking her only weapon.

She only gave him a reassuring smile in return. "There is no need to worry about me. I am Eve. I make my weapons as I go." Well, Shu had said not to use crystals to avoid detection, but if she made sure to not leave any survivors, it should be fine. Dead people couldn't tell what they had seen prior to dying…

"Well, that's true, but..." She knelt down to his level and gave him a quick kiss on his forehead.

"I'll be fine." Was all she said, effectively shutting him up. There was something in her eyes and voice that just immediately made him believe in her. He could do little more but nod, causing her to turn around and run down the street silently.

There was still no one around except for her, but she still proceeded cautiously, surveying her surroundings as she advanced quickly. Eventually she reached her goal, which turned out to be a small boutique selling second hand clothes. It had that certain "small family business"-flair to it, or at least it would have, if it hadn't been obviously plundered already. A window was smashed, and there were signs of people having broken in hastily. The insides of the shop were also a mess, with the intruders probably having entered, grabbed whatever the hell it had been they had wanted and left again as soon as they could have, as was evident by the knocked over stands and clothes lying around on the floor.

Inori noticed that the cash register was smashed open and that, whatever its contents may have originally been, it was clear that it had left with whoever it had been that had smashed it open in the first place. This was probably an indicator to tell when exactly this shop must have been robbed. Probably during the early days, back when the riots had occurred, since people must have still thought money would be worth something back then. The shop must have been abandoned ever since, despite it still holding quite a few wares. But then again, most of them were second hand, so the demand for them wasn't exactly high.

The queen entered through the open door slowly and scanned the insides of the store with watchful eyes. It was dark inside. Too dark. Even her Genesis eyes couldn't make out enough details for her to be able to rely on them. That's why she formed a fist-sized crystal in her left hand and made it glow. With it serving as a flashlight, she was able to proceed deeper into the store and determine if it was really secure or not.

It turned out that the store wasn't that big. She had reached the end of it fairly quickly and had determined that it was but a long, albeit narrow room with goods placed left, right and in a row in the center, creating two straight paths for customers to normally take. Ideally one lane to reach the back of the store and another one to come back from it. There were two changing rooms in the back, but she had quickly checked them and determined that they were empty. While the store was also quite a mess near the entrance, it was still fairly neat in the back. The robbers had probably never even set foot back here. If someone else had come here after them, they certainly hadn't left any evidence behind to make it obvious.

" _It's a clothing store, Shu. It appears to be vacant, but there are still quite a few clothes left behind."_ She decided to report back to Shu.

" _Hmm, if you could fetch me a jacket with a hood or something like that, we could use it to conceal my identity just well enough to get through unnoticed. It would be pretty hard to see my face during the night if I wore something like that."_ She heard his thoughts reach her through the crystal in her hand. She nodded at that, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to see it. As she was about to check the racks, though, she got surprised by a sudden rustling noise.

"Who's there?" She immediately called out to the intruder, facing into the direction she had heard the noise from with her right hand in position to summon crystal death if necessary.

However, no answer came and so she grew a bit more nervous. She KNEW she had heard something, so there HAD to be something around here. She took a few steps forward silently and then suddenly pushed over a rack of clothes, expecting to catch the hidden individual by surprise, knocking them off-balance and, through that, gain a chance to overwhelm him or her.

However, what she turned out to be "overwhelming" was not quite something she had expected, which became painfully obvious when she didn't get a surprised yell in response to her actions, but the startled cry of a cat which immediately jumped up, turned around and ran away as fast as its four legs could carry it.

The queen couldn't help but stare at the animal in surprise as she watched it flee the scene, followed by letting out the breath she hadn't realized she was still holding in. Good thing it was just a cat…

Dismissing the feline, she decided to get back to her previous task. She looked through the shelves and eventually found something that looked as if it would fit Shu while also fulfilling the requirements given by him. It was a rather plain looking cotton jacket in a dark gray color. Nothing of interest could be said about it other than the fact that it had a hydrophobic material on its surface and was rather thick, making it a good choice for a winter jacket. The manufacturer's name could be read on the inside, but no one would be able to see if Shu actually wore it. It didn't have any details worth remembering which was good for not wanting to stick out. She decided to take it with her.

She then tried to find something warm for herself, realizing that now that she wasn't standing directly next to her Adam, she had started noticing a slight chill around her. It was still nowhere near of being unpleasant, but it would not hurt to have something to keep her warm in case they were to get separated. It would seriously suck if she were to freeze to death out here just because of lack of clothing.

That said, though, there wasn't really much of a variety for her to choose from. At least not on the first glance. There were some summer coats lying around, which would do her only little good in the biting cold outside and the few winter coats she could actually find were all a few sizes too big…not to mention that they all looked as if their previous owners had been living in a different time period. They were all horribly old-fashioned and didn't even look like something a hipster would wear, let alone a normal, young local. Now Inori wasn't exactly picky, nor did she understand much in regards to fashion in the first place, but even she knew that she would look awfully ridiculous and out of place in any of the clothes she could find in a hurry. It was pretty needless to say that wearing these clothes would kind of defeat the purpose of keeping a low profile

Maybe if she took her time to look closer through the racks, she would actually find something wearable, but she didn't really feel like doing that. The light was dim, the range of choice limited and they still had to actually secure a place to sleep at some time tonight. Something she craved dearly right now. There was no time to waste. Especially regarding the treatment of Shu's leg.

That's why she eventually gave up prematurely and decided to return to her king, realizing absentmindedly that somewhere amidst the masses of knowledge given to her by the queen's crown, a method to create clothes also should exist. Maybe once she had rested a bit, she could try her hand at creating her own brand of clothes from scratch. Yeah, if worse came to worst, she could always make use of that…

When she finally found her way back to her wounded king, she was pleased to be embraced by his warmth again, as well as surprised to see he had found a new companion at his side.

There, resting next to him, a small cat sat, enjoying a nice scratch behind the ears given to it by the brunette king. Its fur had a nice brown color, though it became white near its belly and paws. The eyes were closed in pleasure, so Inori couldn't really tell their color. She saw its tail slowly swinging from left to right and heard it purr as the animal enjoyed its treatment. There was no doubt it was the same one that had fled the store she had just been at.

"Hey, Inori. Check out who just showed up out of nowhere." The king said with a small smile as he pointed at the small cat somewhat amusedly. Once he had stopped petting it, it had opened its dark hazel eyes and immediately jumped up on all fours, hissing at the pink haired newcomer threateningly.

"It doesn't seem to like me." Was all she had to say to that while sighing slightly. "Well, I sort of scared it almost to death back in that store, so I guess that can't be helped.

"Relax, little one. Inori's my friend. She won't harm you." Shu then proceeded to jokingly tell the feline which only appeared to tilt its head at him, causing him to wonder if it actually understood the words he was saying. It stopped hissing at Inori however, though the same could not be said about watching her warily.

"You are surprisingly good with animals, Shu." Inori couldn't help but notice, looking somewhat impressed. She tried petting the cat as well, but it would always try to scratch her, making her feel a little disappointed.

"Not really. I guess this one is just special. It's almost a shame we can't keep her." Shu told her with a somewhat sad smile.

"It's a girl?"

"Yeah. Jealous?" Shu asked her playfully to which she only replied with a small smile in return.

"Of all the negative emotions I must ever fear of eventually experiencing, jealousy will probably never be of a concern. I feel like hell would sooner freeze over before our feelings for each other would ever change. And I should be able to tell, since I can feel both, yours and mine."

"Right, I forgot that there is no fooling you when it comes to that." The king only chuckled softly as he looked down at the small cat next to him. "It's true though. Sorry, but I guess there is just no room for you to compete, eh?"

As Inori helped him get up, the cat had only looked at them with a sullen look, as if to tell them "Are you fucking serious?". Once they realized it, they both started to chuckle at each other.

"This one's amusing." Inori couldn't help but admit. Her king nodded at that as he removed his black coat and accepted the grey one he had gotten from her.

"It really is. It's almost as if it understood what we were saying." He handed her his long, black coat in favor of putting on the grayish one with the hood she had provided him with. The queen put it on immediately, albeit it was slightly too big for her. Shu couldn't suppress a slight chuckle, causing her to narrow down her eyes on him in displeasure.

"Does it look that weird?" She wanted to know.

"Nah, it's a bit big, but people will be able to assume that it is actually mine and that I lent it to you, so I doubt they would grow suspicious. We should be fine." He told her with a weak smile. She only proceeded to wrap herself in the black cloth so that only her face stuck out. He heard her inhale deeply, then grin contently.

"It smells of you…" She told him, sounding somewhat happy. He tried to hide his blush below his thick scarf and put on the hood to hide most of his face in the shadow it provided.

"Well? How is it?" He then inquired of his queen, who gave him a critical look.

"It's hard to see your face in the dim street lights if you look down. We should be able to hide your identity like this." She eventually replied, causing him to nod in a satisfied way.

"Good, shall we go, then?"

"Yes." With her help, Shu slowly started limping forward awkwardly. Their pace was slow, but it couldn't be helped. At least they managed to go forward without making much sound, apart from a few hisses from Shu's side every once in a while. The cat had followed them for a short while, maybe hoping it would get something from them still, but when the two monarchs continued their way forward without really paying much mind to it again, it eventually stopped, looking at them with drooped ears, appearing to be somewhat sad. You might almost think it felt bad for the injured Shu, when it probably was only disappointed it wouldn't get petted again. Eventually it vanished into a small alleyway, never to be seen again.

A bit more than 15 minutes later, they eventually stood in front of the gates to the abandoned Research Institute. It was surrounded by a small stone wall with old, barely readable signs hanging near the entrance. The symbol of Caduceus, typically associated with everything regarding healthcare, was seen next to the faded letters that once made out the name of the institute. It was getting partially covered up by a newer, though still aged, sign plastered diagonally over the old one which read "CLOSED – KEEP OUT". The wall itself was shrouded in many vines, obviously having not been cared for, for many, many years. The royal couple was sure that if it was summer right now, hardly anything would even be visible of the wall, with it being completely covered in green leaves growing out of the now dormant vines.

They stepped near the rusty gate, its lock long since busted and useless. Some of the vines tried claiming the gate as well, but apparently, at least that part of the facility was still maintained enough to not get retaken by nature. Shu and Inori took a look at the building, realizing that nothing but darkness could be seen through the windows that adorned it. Well, naturally, since it shouldn't have any power in the first place.

"We made it, Shu." His queen told with relief. Now that they had reached this place, all that was left for them to do was get Shu up in one of these rooms, hopefully finding a bed he could use and then trying to check that leg of his. The man himself wasn't looking all that much forward to his treatment, but he darn well couldn't wait to finally lie down somewhere and rest. Dragging himself to get here had already taken a lot of his remaining stamina, as was evident of his slightly rugged breath. He offered her a kind smile nonetheless.

"Yeah…let's go find a place to rest."

"Hold it right there." Their advance was halted by an unfriendly voice coming from the other side of the gate. As they were about to enter the perimeters, they noticed that behind the wall, next to a burning drum, a tall figure suddenly made itself known and walked up to them with its hands buried deep into the pockets of a worn out, brown trench coat.

"Never seen you guys around here. Who are you?" The stranger wanted to know. He was now standing in front of them, blocking their way. From the faint light of the street lamps, they could make out little of him. Only that he was a tiny bit taller than Shu, apparently way older, due to the few wrinkles they could see on the bit of his face that was shone on by the surrounding light sources. An un-kept beard that attempted to rival the vines growing around the wall could also be seen, as well as the outlines of the glasses he was wearing. He was burying his lower face into the collar of his coat while hiding the rest of his head under a dark wool hat, trying to keep most of his exposed skin warm to the best of his ability.

"Does it matter who we are?" Inori only asked him while eyeing him with slight suspicion.

"Of course it does. We don't need any troublemakers here."

"Then lucky for you that we are not here for trouble." Shu argued calmly.

"Hah, according to you, that is. As far as I am concerned you look like plenty trouble to me." The older man told them in that harsh and accusing tone of his. Shu could feel his irritation with the man rising. All he wanted was to get in there and rest…and all that's in the way of him doing that was this weird guy. What was he supposed to be, anyway? Some kind of guard? Ridiculous.

"What makes you say that…?" Inori wanted to know, not looking any happier about this situation than Shu was.

The stranger uttered a short, arrogant chuckle at them once he heard her question.

"I know the people who come here. They all have that broken expression on their faces and a look in their eyes that can clearly tell of the hardships they must have dealt with in life. They come here because they have no other choice, because this is the last place they can go to. You don't look like that at all. Clean clothes and faces, a healthy skin color as far as I can judge in this light, heck you even smell of soap. This is not the place you are looking for. From the way that lad's clinging to you, missy, I can assume that he has injured his leg and by looking at it from here, I can clearly see that the injury is no simple flesh wound. You would be better off bringing him to a hospital."

Inori frowned at the man. If that had been an option, she would have done that right from the start. Did he think she was stupid or something? Shu also looked quite annoyed. Offering the man a somewhat sarcastic grin, he replied:

"Oh, you don't say. It appears we should look for one then." He turned around halfway to look at the faded signs at the entrance of the gate and continued. "Oh, would you look at that. It says this is a hospital right there. What a coincidence, huh?"

"If you look closely, it also says that it's closed, right?" The unfriendly man responded unamusedly.

"And if _you_ look closely, you will realize that I certainly won't go anywhere with that leg of mine, so step aside, old man. We are staying here tonight." Shu stared at the stranger angrily, refusing to back down now. Coming here had already brought him to his limits. He was tired and in pain…the sole prospect of being forced to turn around and look for another place was simply unacceptable. If necessary, he would force himself through this obstacle. He was confident he could best this geezer even with a broken leg and without voids. If worse came to worst, Inori could help him out. It was two Genesis against an old man…

"See, you are already being trouble." They saw him taking out an old fashioned mobile from his pocket. Wow, Shu didn't even know that people were still using smartphones in an age in which holo-screens were already pretty much standard material. "Leave now, or I am gonna call the cops on you."

The brunette king growled angrily. That would certainly suck. He had no idea if the man was bluffing, but if, by chance, he really would go through with it, he and Inori would be forced to leave either way. No matter if the police would actually show up or not, simply because if they would, he and Inori would be done for. His identity would get known, the military would get alarmed and with his leg as it was now, he stood at no chance of running away from them once found out.

"Surely there is no need for that." Inori hastily took the initiative by kindly putting her free hand on the stranger's one which held the mobile device, preventing him from using it. "Look, it's just that Sh-my friend is hurt and we need a place to stay. We are sorry if we have alarmed you, but it's just that we are exhausted. We can't go anywhere else anymore." She told him truthfully with her typical calm and quiet voice, which somehow managed to take a bit of the hostility out of the hobo's eyes. Shu's lungs involuntarily clenched up for a few seconds from shock as he noticed how she had almost slipped up and called him by name. It's not like that would have given him away instantly, but it was better to not give away too many clues that could be used to identify them if placed together. He suppressed a relieved sigh due to the absence of any kind of reaction from the hobo. The guy must have not noticed her slip-up.

Instead, he eyed the two monarchs sharply, as if analyzing them.

"Well, you look tired, alright. But you know that even during the lock-down, there are still ambulances you can call, right? They could get him there in an instant. And I may not be a doctor, but even I can tell that he certainly could need the medical attention."

"Right…there wouldn't be, by chance, anyone around here who would know how to treat his injury, huh?" Inori asked him with a bit of hope in her voice, only to have said hope smashed instantly once she saw him shake his head slowly.

"Afraid not. Though we wouldn't even have the supplies, even if there was one."

"I see…" The queen sighed at that and threw a troubled look at Shu's broken leg. The blood had soaked the coat she had wrapped around it almost entirely. They would have to change the "bandage" soon…

"Look, missy. It's obvious you are avoiding the hospital for some reason, but let me tell you, whatever it is you guys did, it's not worth losing a leg for. If I were you, I would go there no matter what."

This earned him a critical look from the queen as she narrowed her eyes on him.

"If that's the case, why are you not going there, either?" Shu and the hobo only started looking at her with confused expressions.

"What do you mean?"

"You are at stage one of the apocalypse virus infection, aren't you?" She told him sharply, making the man back off in surprise as he subconsciously started clenching his right arm, probably a spot in which the cancer grew below his clothes.

"How did you know…?" Inori ignored the question.

"The military is giving out vaccines for free, why not head over to one of the stations to receive your share?" She said with some suspicion added into her voice. Shu tried to hide the grin that appeared on his lips.

' _Nice going, Inori. You turned the tables on him.'_ Is what he thought. Now it wasn't him and Inori anymore who had to explain themselves, but the hobo himself.

"Tch, it's not that easy, you know?" Was all he could give her in response. To get supplied by the military, one was required to identify themselves…if you couldn't do so, for whatever reason, you wouldn't only get nothing, but would also get detained until they find out who you really were. Not everyone was a terrorist like Shu and Inori were, but there were still people living in Tokyo who simply couldn't afford getting in contact with the military or police…or people who had no means of identifying themselves in the first place.

"We know, alright. Why did you think we came here in the first place?" Shu told him seriously.

"I see, so it's like that, huh." The older man put his left hand on his chin, assuming a thinking pose. After a while, he asked:

"So what did you do?" He wanted to know.

"That's hardly any of your business, is it?" Shu only retorted, sounding angry now. Honestly, who did that guy think he is? If he had to waste any more time out here in the cold like this just because some random dude thought he felt the need to play Sherlock Holmes, he was sure to go mad. Was a quiet place to stay at so much to ask for? From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Inori seemed to agree with his thoughts. He could see the edge of a crystal blade peeking out from her left sleeve and the look in her eyes clearly said: "Please go away already. Don't make me do this to you…"

"Of course that is my business. I must make sure no dangerous people are entering this place. We don't need any murderers and rapists around here. We may be outcasts, but no one became one by choice. We are all kind people who want to live in peace." The hobo explained angrily. Shu coldn't help but sport a troubled expression on his face and somehow felt parts of his own anger fade upon hearing that. Inori's blade retreated as well. The people living here were most likely the same as them. Shunned, lonely...cast away by society which had no more need for them. Yeah, it would feel bad killing him after hearing that. Not if it could be avoided, after all.

"…I understand that you are worried, but we still can't tell you anything regarding the reason we are on the run…" Shu then decided to say with Inori nodding at his side. They would absolutely not tell anyone about their secret. It was too dangerous.

"…that's fine." The old man suddenly gave himself understanding after looking at the two younglings in front of him. "I realize it's not fair to ask you to tell me your story. Everyone here has their own little secrets he intends to guard. Some of them even with their lives. I suppose I am not any different…" He told them with a frown.

"Still, I will have to ask you one thing no matter what." He came a step closer and eyed them very sharply. "Have you killed?"

The monarchs slowly threw glances at each other. Silence befell the trio for a short while before Shu eventually chose to reply:

"We have."

"Why?"

"To protect." Both, Shu and Inori said at the same time with no hesitation whatsoever. The hobo appeared as if he was thinking about something with closed eyes as soon as he had heard their answer. After a silence that felt like eternity to Shu and Inori, he eventually decided to step aside.

"Get in. I am pretty good at telling if someone is lying or not. You two may be murderers, but at least you are being honest. Still, try to not cause any trouble while staying here. Everyone around here may be doomed to die sooner than later anyway, but it would be nice to let them die in peace." Wow, quite a sad way of seeing things, Shu thought. Still, he hardly cared about stuff like that right now. There were more important things to worry about at the moment, after all.

"Got it. Thanks." He said with some relief in his voice. Fucking finally. Now they could at long last get in and find a place to stay. Inori helped him moving forward.

They left the guard-hobo behind at the gate, followed by entering the building. It was pretty dark inside, with only the moonlight coming through the windows. There wasn't much to see, but their Genesis eyes could at least make out the old reception desk in the lobby and the dusty chairs probably meant for visitors to use while waiting for their turn. To the left, there were two elevators and a stairway leading to higher floors. Straight ahead, behind a glass door, lied a corridor with many rooms to head into. It looked like standard patient rooms in a hospital to Shu. At least it was what he would guess them to be.

Figuring that the ground floor was probably mostly occupied already, seeing as there was already a lot of random stuff lying all around the corridor and in front of the doors, they chose to not even bother with it. Since it was pretty much a given that the elevators wouldn't work anyway, they immediately headed for the stairway, embarking onto the first floor. There they saw a sleeping man lying on the ground next to the glass door that would lead to the corridors with the patients' rooms. He reeked of alcohol from afar and snored loudly. It was probably safe to assume he would not move even if you were to kick him, so they reluctantly decided to go onto the second floor.

By the time Shu had eventually conquered those stairs with the help of his queen, he was already positive that he wouldn't even care anymore if there would be another hindrance on this floor as well. He would rather evict a homeless person from one of the rooms if he had to rather than climbing even just another single stair. Luckily, though, there didn't seem to be much presence on this floor. The hallway was rather clean compared to the lower ones, and indeed, after walking for a bit, they found a room that was vacant. And not only it but the ones directly next to it as well. Perfect, no one would disturb them then, they thought.

Entering it, they realized that there was nothing special about the room at all. It was small and had one window and two beds, one of which looked as if it had been used before…it was undone and the sheets were quite…filthy. Whoever slept here last had certainly not cared about leaving behind a good impression. The remaining bed, however, looked fine. A bit dusty, but if someone had ever slept in it, there at least hadn't been a visual indicator left behind to make it obvious. It wasn't exactly high class, but it would have to do.

While Shu took a seat on one of the chairs in the room, probably originally having been meant for visitors to sit at, Inori placed the mattress sideways and hit all the dust on it off as quickly and as best as she could. Once she felt she was more or less done, she laid it back the way it should and helped Shu lying down on it. Said man couldn't help but let a tired and pained sigh escape his lips. Finally he was allowed to lie down. His leg would undoubtedly still hurt, but at least not as much as it had while he had constantly been on the move. He spotted the remote for changing the mattresses' position and pressed a few buttons, chuckling at his own foolishness. Of course these things wouldn't work. He hadn't really expected them to anyway. Still, a man could dream, right?

Meanwhile, his queen was hastily checking if there was anything worth using lying around. She opened the drawers on the nightstand next to the beds, but they were, of course, empty. There also was a wardrobe in the small adjacent room next to the bathroom, but it was locked. She could probably force it open, but she doubted it would be worth the trouble, expecting it to be at least as empty as the nightstand was. As she was about to turn around and leave again, she spotted a first aid box hanging on the wall, next to the door. She went over to it and opened it, but, naturally, it was empty as well. She slammed it shut again, obviously frustrated. Of course there wouldn't be anything left by now, she realized. The hospital was shut down 5 years ago…everything of worth had probably long since been looted by the homeless who lived here.

This bode a problem, though. How was she to treat Shu's leg if there was nothing to use? No bandages, no disinfectant, nothing to stitch the wound with…wasn't this rather bad? Back when Shu had first lost his arm in loop seven 5 years ago, she had been in a similar situation, but at that time, there at least still had been bandages around. He had also not been immune to the virus yet, so she had still been able to seal off the wound with crystals, something she couldn't do anymore. Well, if she were to go to the nearest hospital, one which still operated, she would probably find all the stuff she needed for sure, but it was risky and also far. Shu needed treatment soon and she didn't know when she would be able to come back if she were to go now. She was also so horribly tired…going somewhere tonight was absolutely impossible.

Well, for bandages she could probably rip the sheets to get some, but disinfectant? Genesis should be more resistant to infections, but she didn't exactly know how much. In the void realm, no one ever suffered from them, but she wasn't even sure if the void realm had held the bacteria necessary to cause infections in the first place. They certainly would exist in the real world, though, so her experience from the void realm couldn't be used as a reliable reference at all. What to do?

She figured that if she couldn't find anything, at least water would do to wash the wound. Walking over to the bathroom, she decided to find out if, by chance, there would still be running water, despite the odds. As soon as she had opened the bathroom door, however, she had regretted the decision immediately, as an unbearable stench filled her nostrils soon afterwards. It was so bad, she had to gag, followed by immediately covering her nose and shutting the door. Whoever had done his business in there the last time either hadn't realized that the water wouldn't be working anymore or had simply not cared either way. So water was out of the question as well, huh. Maybe she could use some of the snow lying outside to…no, that obviously wouldn't work. It was possibly even dirtier than the wound was. She was clearly growing desperate here if thoughts like that were allowed to surface in her mind.

"There is nothing to use here…" She regrettably admitted with a heavy sigh as she returned to Shu's side.

"If only I had Hare's void…" He cursed. It was the only one of his friend's voids he didn't currently have since he had returned it to her after the last battle. The brunette medic could naturally make more use of it outside of combat than he could have. She had been in charge of treating the wounds of the Undertakers, after all. And no one had expected a sudden rebellion in the middle of the night. He had never had any time to get it back from her. Ironically, he had Argo's void with him. The thought of crushing it crossed his mind, but he dismissed it quickly. If that damn guy was lucky, he would get through evolution unscathed. Shu would not allow that man to become a Genesis. Not him. Not after today. Besides, he had said he would let him live as long as their paths would never cross again. A final act of kindness out of respect to their long friendship in the past. The sudden sound of Inori clapping her hands together in epiphany threw him out of his line of thought.

"Alcohol!" She suddenly muttered, confusing Shu. That's when she followed up with an explanation:

"It can be used as disinfectant, right?"

"Well, yeah. If it's not too diluted…" He told her.

"That guy we passed on our way up here smelled like alcohol. Perhaps he still has some."

"Makes you wonder where he got it from in the first place…" He watched her heading for the door.

"I will go back and check if there is some left we can use." She told him while raising a crystal wall directly next to the door, only far enough away from it to allow her to still open it. From outside, no one would notice it, but if they wanted to enter the room, they would be met by it, preventing them entry since only Genesis could pass through the crystalline material. She even went a step further by telling the crystals to only let her and Shu pass through them. With that, no one should have been able to enter this room to harm Shu in her absence. To make sure, she even created some to cover the window as well, though they were see-through in order to let at least some light enter the room.

"I'll be right back." She then said to Shu before vanishing into the crystal to leave the room. If he had said something to her after that, she hadn't heard it.

Not wasting any time, she went back the way they had come from, jogging down the hallways to reach the stairway. From there on, she proceeded slowly and quietly, to make sure the drunkard from before was still sleeping and not waking up to the sound she could possibly be making. When she reached the lower floor, there, indeed, still lied the homeless man from before, in the same position they had left him in. With quiet steps, she approached him carefully. He lied on the ground with his back facing towards her, snoring away loudly. As she got closer, she also noticed the almost empty bottle resting in his arms. He held it closely to his chest, as if guarding it with his life. On his hands, crumbs of crystals had sprouted, same with parts of his face. This man clearly was infected and slowly suffering the consequences of said infection. Maybe that's why he hadn't cared anymore how much he drank and where he slept. He must have thought he would soon die anyway. That mindset made Inori frown. Maybe it wasn't her place to say that, but she thought being at stage one wasn't bad enough to give up on life already. But then again, she was an immune Genesis…even worse, she was the queen of the apocalypse. Her opinion might not count, after all.

She knelt next to the him, leaning over him to grab the bottle. The moment her hands had touched the vitreous object, though, the drunkard's very own hand grabbed hers. Alerted, she prepared to protect herself if he would plan hurting her for the attempted thievery, but to her surprise, the hobo's half open eyes closed again and he began nodding off once more with a bit of incomprehensive blabbering accompanying the action. His grip on her became weak as well. Once she noticed that, she immediately seized the chance and took the small container of alcohol into her possession. It was too dark to read the label, but she was sure it would do. Before turning around to leave again, however, she decided to look down at the sleeping man. Since she was basically robbing this defenseless person off possibly the last thing of moderate worth he still had, the least she could do was offer him something in exchange. And so, with a simple thought alone, the crystal crumbs on the man's skin shrunk and crumbled away, leaving no sign of ever having been there in the first place. Satisfied with that, she decided to return to Shu as soon as she could, leaving the man to himself.

She was greeted by Shu once she had found her way back.

"Welcome back. How did it go?"

"I found some, Shu." She told him happily. This find sure as hell was lucky. With it she would at least be able to make sure Shu's wound would stay clean. That should be one worry less.

"Nicely done. Though it looks as if there isn't much." The king couldn't help but notice as he eyed the bottle she held up for him to see. Inori mirrored that action, making her frown. There, indeed, was only little left of the orange liquid that apparently was called "Whisky" if she were to believe the label she could now read with the help of the sheen that surrounded the crystals in the room.

"You think it will be enough?" She wondered.

"It will have to do." Her king only replied with a troubled chuckle. It's not like they had another choice than to use it and hope for the best.

"I have ripped some sheets into bandages with the help of Yahiro's void in your absence." He told her as he pointed to the small pile of longer strips of cloth, formerly having been a part of the bed sheet he was lying on. It had been easy to get them with the void shears. He only had to cut into it a tiny bit and the void had already made a clean, straight cut right to the end of the sheet by itself. It had almost seemed as if Yahiro's heart had realized his intention and acted on its own, though he knew that was impossible. In truth it had probably only been thanks to the shears' power. If it could severe Endlaves and even life itself, it would logically also be able tear up a simple piece of cloth with only one snip.

Inori bit on her lower lip as she looked at her king with a clearly troubled expression.

"This is going to be unpleasant, Shu."

The man in question could do little but sigh in defeat. "Unpleasant" was putting it nicely. A more accurate description of the sensation he was undoubtedly about to experience would be: "this is going to hurt like hell", not that he wasn't already in pain from the beginning. This day just seriously sucked.

"I couldn't find any painkillers, sorry…"

"It's not your fault, Inori."

She shook her head slowly, as if not so sure about that. "I'll have to…restrain you."

"I understand. Go ahead, it's fine."

That's when he started to feel crystal vines growing from under the bed, slowly and gently wrapping themselves around his wrists, arms, torso, legs and ankles. He soon realized that he could move nothing below his neck.

"Is it too tight?" She asked him with worry in her voice, but he only gave her a reassuring smile.

"No, everything is ok."

"Then…I will proceed." He heard her say reluctantly.

"I will be in your care."

"Please don't speak anymore. You might accidentally bite your tongue." When she saw him nod in understanding, she closed her eyes and sighed, calming herself down for what she was about to do.

Then she opened them again and began removing the now bloody coat from Shu's broken leg, revealing the nasty wound. A huge hole was to be found there from which a bit of blood started leaking out now that the cloth that had previously prevented it from doing so was gone. The queen gave the injury a quick once-over, checking both the entry as well as the exit wound and getting relieved by the fact that no bones were sticking out of the leg. This would hopefully make things a bit easier.

Shu saw her opening the whisky bottle and holding it over his leg. Before she started pouring it on the wound, she made eye contact with him one more time, having nothing but pity showing in her eyes. He gulped and gave her a firm nod. He knew there was no way around this.

Inori wondered if there was really even still a point to disinfect…there had already been quite a lot of time between the acquisition of the injury and now, but she wasn't a doctor and only knew what tiny bit of knowledge others had shared with her about medicine. It was the standard stuff. Disinfect, sew wound, stop bleeding, change bandage. Rinse and repeat. She knew it was better to disinfect as soon as possible, but she had no idea how much time was allowed to pass until it became useless.

She was forced to give it the benefit of the doubt. She didn't know better, so she would just do what she thought was right and hope for the best. There was no other option. Thus she began rinsing the wound with the whisky. Shu immediately tensed up and tried to not to scream. She noticed how it had been a good idea to restrain him first, seeing from the way his muscles seemed to involuntarily try moving away from her who was currently inflicting some burning pain on them.

To her best effort, she tried to ignore Shu's display of obvious pain and keep going, figuring that the faster she would be able to finish this, the sooner he would be allowed to be freed from the pain.

After having disinfected and cleaned both, the entry as well as exit wound, she began forming small crystals which were to serve as extensions to her fingers. They were thin and very delicate, like needles, and after letting a certain red glow appear on her eyes, she began sticking them into the wound, causing Shu to press his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

By putting these delicate crystals into the wound, she was allowed to see inside it. By no means was it as effective as an x-ray would have been, but by doing that, the queen would at least be able to determine in how many pieces Shu's bone had been fractured into and if their ends were touching each other or not. She knew for a fact that the only way for broken bones to heal was to set them back in such a way that their ends were aligned…otherwise they wouldn't grow back together again.

Normally it would have been ill advised to poke around in a wound to find out if the bones are in place or not, but her crystals were sterile, so there at least was no danger of causing an infection by doing that. It didn't mean that it was any more pleasant for the patient, though.

With the help of her crystals, she soon learned that Shu's leg had been broken two times, thus creating three fragments. The upper part of his lower leg, a smaller piece in the middle that had completely broken off, and the lower part of the remaining leg bone. By the way the bones had been displaced, she was sure that she would need quite a bit of fumbling around to make them get back into their intended position.

She nodded determinedly and began the next step. Using her crystal needles, she started pushing his fragmented bones back into place. Mainly the middle piece which was horribly dislocated. Obviously, having stuff poking around in an open wound and making them push bone fragments back into place, clearly wasn't anything even remotely enjoyable. By now, Shu was in so much pain that he wasn't even forming thoughts anymore. Before, she had been able to hear some curses enter her mind through the crystals formed at her fingertips, but now all Inori was receiving from him was his brain's simple signal of him being in pain. She figured he was about to pass out soon if this was to continue much longer.

Once the middle piece was finally back in place and touching the upper piece, all she had to do was slightly readjust the lower one, which, luckily, was a lot easier than the previous fragment. With a tiny push to the right, it was back in place. Immediately afterwards, she retracted her crystal needles from his leg which now had changed their color to red and had blood dripping down their tips. Not that it really mattered since she made them crumble apart as soon as they were out. The red glow of her eyes vanished, too, now that the enhanced control of her Eve powers hadn't been needed anymore.

A quick glance at Shu told her that he was breathing roughly, but starting to calm down gradually. He had screamed out in pain earlier, but now he was mostly quiet again. He apparently had also managed to cling to his consciousness, staying awake during the whole procedure.

"The worst thing is over, Shu. Almost done." She said comfortingly as she made two long crystal sticks appear out of thin air to use as splints. She immobilized his leg with them by strapping them on both sides of his leg with the help of the ripped sheets, as well as using them to bandage the wound. With that, the procedure was over. She hadn't been able to sew the wound together due to lack of supplies, but then again, she figured that it might be better that way anyway. If it really would get infected, you would rather have the wound open instead of closed in order to prevent pus from gathering up inside. The thought alone made her feel uncomfortable.

" _Please don't get infected…"_ She couldn't help but pray silently.

Freeing Shu from his restraints now that they weren't needed anymore, she got up and sat down on the bed next to him, putting a hand on his cheek gently as she wiped away a tear that had escaped the prison of his eyes to make a run for it with the help of gravity. He had looked up at the ceiling with wide open eyes until he had felt her touch, making him blink a few times, then look at her. He immediately noticed the sadness in her eyes from having sent him through so much pain, which is why he decided to smile at her and jokingly ask:

"O-over already? I barely even felt a thing…" He had good intentions, but the grin he formed could only be described as crooked at best, and the pearls of sweat on his forehead were still there as well, betraying his act. His spirit was willing to lie for her sake, yet his body obviously was not.

"Shu…" His queen, who noticed what he was trying to do couldn't help but whisper his name in a slightly pained voice, lean over him and lay her head on his chest from where her king merely put his arms around her. It was quiet around them for a while, both of them unable to quite find words to say. Eventually Shu decided to break the silence, however.

"…thanks, Inori. I may keep my leg this time, after all." He told her as he held her and looked up at the ceiling, relieved that his aching leg was not ailing him as badly as it had moments before. Now it could start healing again.

"Don't thank me. It was because of me you got hurt in the first place…" He heard her mumble sadly into his chest.

"It was not. If anyone is to blame, then Argo and his Undertaker friends…"

"But…"

"Stop, Inori. No buts, alright?"

She did not reply to that anymore, instead she chose to put her arms around his back and hold him as closely as she could as if she wanted to say that she wanted to never let him and his kindness go. It caused him to smile. After a while, he eventually caught himself thinking out aloud with a somewhat melancholic expression:

"Look at us, Inori. Back at this point again. In the end, this is what it always comes down to. It seems the only ones we can truly put trust in…is ourselves."

"Why…" She got up suddenly and he was surprised to see a look with a perfect mixture of displeasure and disappointment present on her face. Her eyes radiated anger, yet were also shining due to the film of tears starting to gather there. "Why must it always be this way, Shu?"

The man in question found himself at a loss of words. Yes, why indeed? It had been five years already, but nothing had changed. The world was still filled with wars, people were still hurting and killing each other and it always seemed as if every single force in existence tried to tear him and Inori apart from each other. It really was a harsh and unforgiving world. As he pondered these things, he couldn't help but notice Inori's pained expression. When he looked at her, he could clearly see her worry for him shining in her tearful eyes as well as a certain anger for the responsible elements that had caused him to get hurt in the first place. Seeing her like this got him thinking, and after a short while, he eventually asked:

"Say, Inori, do you hate the world?" Her reaction was interesting. At first she looked at him as if slightly taken aback, obviously surprised about the sudden question, but then it made her somehow look away, as if she was ashamed of the things she was about to say, yet she said them anyway with sincerity and a little bit of anger mixed into her voice.

"…I do. It is cruel and unfair. Everyone just keeps fighting over meaningless things and there is nothing but hatred wherever you look. When I met Gai all this time ago, he told me he would change the world and that if I would follow him, I would eventually get to see a world filled with peace and happiness. But in the end, he died and the world remained as it was. When I met you, I started to think the world could probably still have some good in it, despite its ugliness, but no matter what we tried, everyone still always attempted to work against us. When the world threatened to take you away from me, I decided I would not let that happen. All the bad, all the pain and hatred you had gathered inside you, I took it with me as I went to the void realm, thinking I would grant you the possibility to live in a world Gai had told me about. When you eventually came for me and told me you would bring me back to that world with you, I was so glad. I thought we could finally start being happy."

She had looked at him with a sad smile as she had said the last bit before changed again. The sadness remained, with the previous anger and disappointment coming back to take the place of the smile. Shu could feel her clutching his coat now that she had formed her hands into slightly trembling fists, showing him how much this whole ordeal actually affected her.

"But then we came back and I immediately realized that I had been wrong all along. That all I managed to achieve by dying was to leave you alone in a world that would simply refuse to ever change. Everything we had done…, even despite our hard efforts, it had all been for nothing. People still fought over nothing, there was still no peace and I still had to see you get hurt…My actions had been in vain. What I had hoped would bring peace at last only ended up bringing you sorrow. I abandoned you and made you live in it all alone. Thinking about it just makes me so mad, Shu...I can't forgive the world for everything it has done."

Her gaze went down in utter sadness and her pink mane started covering up her face as if to attempt hiding the shame she felt for having these thoughts. A peace loving woman she was, but still she couldn't help but have this hatred for the world come up deep inside her. A world which always stood against them, which would just never let them be happy...she wanted it gone. Everyone who would stand between her and Shu could just disappear. She felt like a hypocrite. She had said she didn't want to bring the apocalypse...that she wouldn't be like Mana, but there she was, actively thinking about it, considering it. And the worst part of all: Actually having the willingness to go through with it despite the cost. Maybe all this power really did start corrupting her after all...she couldn't tell anymore.

But wasn't it okay, she wondered, wasn't it understandable? She had not lied back then. She never had. She really hadn't wanted to bring the apocalypse, truly believing that she and Shu would be fine if only they had each other. "If we could bring Da'ath down, it would all be over!", is what she had thought, but now she had realized that it would never be over. First it would be Da'ath, but even if they were to fall...what of it? Other organizations would come and find some stupid reason to oppose them, to hurt Shu and herself. Like Yuu always did, or Argo had done.

She wanted to trust and believe in others. She wanted to live in a happy and peaceful world with them all, but she realized now that she couldn't. If she had to move around with the constant fear of something or someone attempting to put a knife into their backs, she would rather just make them perish right away to save herself the pain of betrayal. Living like this wasn't living at all. She wanted to embrace Shu and feel safe in his arms, not look over his shoulder with watchful eyes, waiting for the shot that would undoubtedly be fired at them sooner or later.

Was this truly too much to ask for? Did it really make her a bad person? Maybe it did...maybe it was okay to become a villain in the end. After all, what difference did it make if she became one in a world that already was filled with villains. Let the people hate her, let them curse her. Why should she care as long as she would have her beloved king? Though, even he might not love her anymore if she were to decide to become a monster. Yeah, Shu might not agree with her after all. Why should he? It was crazy and selfish of her. She was the worst to even think about it.

That was the moment she felt his right hand push through the curtain of her pink hair to gently lift her chin, followed by caressing her left cheek affectionately.

"I see…" He said with sympathy. "Then let's end it."

Her eyes immediately opened up wide once she had heard these words coming out of his mouth. No way, he couldn't have said that just now. She must have misheard.

"Huh?"

He chuckled slightly. "Are you surprised? Have you still not realized that this foolish king of yours would do anything for you? If you asked me for money, I would steal it from as many banks as I had to until you said you had enough. If you asked me for the moon, I would gather all the voids in the world until I had one capable to capture it and bring it down to lie it in front of your feet for you…and if you asked me to end the world, I, naturally, would be the first to set it on fire."

"But…so many people would die…would you really be alright with that?" She asked him in bewilderment. Could it really be that she wouldn't be forced to walk the dark path of sin on her own? Would Shu really follow her even if she were to decide to plundge herself headfirst into the darkness? To doom all of humanity for her selfishness?

"While I do not enjoy the thought of it, in the end, they are nothing but strangers to me. Sure, it would be nice to save them the fate of death, but why must we be the saviors? To be called heroes? Screw that. I never wanted such a title. What I want, though, is to see you happy. If this world is causing you pain, even if it takes half of humanity to die, I will not hesitate to crush it completely and build it anew until I made one in which you can smile, for it is the most beautiful thing to behold. It's worth paying any price for."

Inori slowly took his right hand into both of hers and told him with a gentle smile: "Shu, you need to stop saying all these nice things to me or you will make me want to do things to you which we shouldn't do in your current state."

He grinned. "It's the truth, though. I would do everything for you." She leaned down on him and gave him an affectionate kiss. This man. Her king. She realized that he would always be her light. Even if she were to descend into the abyss of villainy, venturing so deep into the darkness that she would normally stand at danger of losing her last shred of humanity in it, he would always be at her side, guiding her by shining with that bright and warm light that surrounded him. As long as she would have him, she would never get lost in her darkness. She would never become a monster. With him at her side, she would always remain to be no one else but Inori. That was really all she needed.

"I know. Still, you don't need to bring down the world to make me happy. Just knowing that you would be willing to is enough already." She told him after that as she looked into his eyes affectionately.

Now it was his turn to act surprised. "You don't want to bring the apocalypse?"

"I do. If only to finally be allowed to be with you without having to fear that anyone could do us any harm anymore." She told him truthfully, though still with a kind smile as she played with his hair slightly.

"Then why not bring it?"

A playful grin appeared on her lips as she narrowed her eyes on him knowingly. "Tell me, Shu: Do _you_ hate the world?"

He blinked at her a couple of times, opening his mouth to say something, only to have her put a finger on his lips.

"The truth only." She demanded of him. Then she removed the finger again, leaving her king quite speechless. He was forced to think. And the more he thought, the more confusion seemed to appear on his face.

"I…don't, actually." He realized, looking quite shocked about that himself. "I thought I would, but…in actuality, I only hate Japan. Thinking about it, I don't even know the world. I have never been anywhere but here, in this rotten country which had taken from me far more than it had ever given me back. Would it really be fair to say I hated the world when all I have seen of it was just a small part of it…?"

This caused Inori to smile in satisfaction. "And there you have your answer. You see, you are not the only one who would do everything for the one you love. If you want to preserve this world, then I will preserve it."

The king in question couldn't help but smirk at that. "Should Eve really be saying that?"

"I was Inori long before I became Eve, meaning that your happiness comes before anything else, even the apocalypse." That's right. She realized that the light she saw in Shu was her hope in humanity. If someone like him existed, humanity couldn't possibly be beyond salvation. An apocalypse was not needed as long as he himself still said there was hope. Only once even he would say that this world was rotten to the very core would she decide to raze it down for him, not before.

"Careful, now it's you who makes me want to do things I should rather not be doing in my current state."

His queen couldn't help but giggle at that.

"Then heal faster."

"I am trying, alright?" He jokingly answered to that, followed by him playfully tickling her on her right side, causing her to fall on him, where she proceeded to climb over him in an attempt to escape further attacks.

"Stop it, Shu. You need to rest." She said in between of laughter and Shu eventually realized that she was right.

"You have a point. You actually managed to make me forget about the pain, though. At least for a while."

"It will heal soon. Genesis recover fast." Inori tried to cheer him up.

Now lying at his right, she snuggled up to him half because she had to in order to not fall off the bed, and half because she really wanted to. It was silent for a while between them again. That was until a certain unpleasant thought crossed the queen's mind again. It was one she had had a couple of times already since she had become Eve and troubled her very much. She decided to eventually talk about it, even if she knew it would be unpleasant to do so.

"Shu…"

"Hm?"

"I don't care about the apocalypse and everything, but will you promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Please…never die, Shu." This caused him to blink in surprise. What a weird thing to ask for.

"I have no intention of dying…"

"No, I mean…you can absolutely never die. Not even if it is to protect me." She told him seriously, causing him to nearly fall of the bed when he couldn't help but get worked up due to his disapproval. When he attempted to get up, he was forced to stop due to his leg sending him a grim reminder of the sorry state it was still in with the help of pain. Seeing him struggle, Inori only pushed him back down again gently. He still eyed her defiantly, though, and said:

"Are you out of you mind? Of course I would-" His sentence was cut short by his queen interrupting him.

"You absolutely can't." She repeated her demand, causing him to frown.

"That's quite a thing to ask of me, coming from someone who did the same for me five years ago…"

"That was different."

"How so?"

"Because neither of us were affected by the Eve curse."

"Huh?"

Inori got up slightly to look at him directly.

"Eve is immortal. Even if I die, I will come back. But Adam…he isn't. If I were to die, even if I were to end up in Da'ath's hands, it would not mean that everything is lost. But if you died, I would never be able to get you back, do you understand? I would have to live the rest of my life without you, and even though I know I can't, Eve's curse would not care either way. It would always bring me back, no matter how many times I wished for it to stop."

"Still, to ask me to abandon you…I could never…" He still tried to object.

"It's not abandonment, Shu. It's the opposite. As long as you live, I can keep going, no matter what were to happen to me."

The king couldn't help but shake his head slowly, getting somewhat overwhelmed by her request.

" I never thought I would see the day I would have to admit that you are asking too much off me…"

"You said you would do anything…" She argued with unwavering determination, not willing to give the matter a rest until she had his word.

"That's not fair, Inori."

"What if it was the other way around, Shu? Could you live in a world without me?"

He gritted his teeth. "Of course not. I tried it once and suffered every single day of it. To imagine I would have to do that for the rest of my life…" He shook his head strongly, unwilling to even imagine such a cruel fate.

"So, will you still not promise me?" She asked him with those big eyes of hers. He felt himself forced to turn away, not even caring that his leg hurt this time when he changed his lying position to face away from her. A long pause followed.

"…..fine." He eventually said. That's when he suddenly felt two arms wrap themselves around him from behind, his queen snuggling close to him and burying her face into his back with a smile.

"Thank you."

When he didn't turn around to her again and an uncomfortable silence surrounded them once more. She started to wonder if she had perhaps pushed her king too much. For someone who has earlier stated that his happiness was her happiness, hadn't her actions contradicted themselves somehow just now? Still, it had been quite an important matter to her. It had worried her ever since she had become Eve...and having seen Shu hurt so badly this time had only made the worry intensify, letting it take a firm grip on her heart. The sheer prospect of watching him die was horrifying her and she wanted to make sure that it never happened. However, making him promise was not worth it if the consequence was him treating her coldly because of it…

"Shu, are you angry?" She thus couldn't help but ask him with a bit of regret lingering in her voice.

"Inori." He merely answered seriously.

"Yes?" There was a bit of worry in her calm voice, though Shu was only able to notice it because he knew her so well.

"Once this leg heals, let's run away."

She blinked a few times in bewilderment. "Run?"

"Yeah. Let's go back, get the Genesis, our friends and family and leave this rotten country. I no longer care what happens to it." He turned around again, allowing her to have a look at his face again. Relief spread in her heart when she couldn't see any signs of anger in his eyes, only determination. He then continued:

"Instead of risking our lives here, having to fear seeing each other die any day…why not simply see what the world has to offer? A world as vast as ours is bound to have a place that is better than this hellhole. I am sure of it. We just need to find it."

A gentle smile appeared on Inori's lips. He hadn't been mad. Even better: He understood, which was why he had come up with that plan of his. To ease the worry of having to witness each other's deaths, he chose to abandon anything and run away with her to find a place where they wouldn't have to fear experiencing such scenarios. It made her happy.

"I want to see it, too. The world. Will you take me, Shu? To a place I have never been?" She felt him put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. A notion she welcomed greatly as she enjoyed the warmth he provided her with.

"Yeah. Let's see for ourselves if this world we are meant to destroy really needs to meet such a fate. I refuse to believe that it is all bad before I have seen it with my own eyes."

"Before that, please give me your hand, Shu. The one with your void." She asked off him. Curiously, he decided to do as he was asked without hesitation. His queen gently took his hand with both of hers, holding it close as she closed her eyes. Shu though it looked as if she was praying until he felt something weird going on inside his void. He gasped in shock once he realized what it was that she had been doing.

"The virus I absorbed all those years ago…!" He realized in astonishment, taken aback by the sudden surge of power that now rested inside his right hand. The strains of the apocalypse virus he had assumed during the fourth apocalypse…they had always remained inside his arm ever since, though in a broken, harmless state. Even if he had chosen to release the virus, it would have done nothing. It had been disarmed in a way that could be compared to a shark without teeth. However, that was before.

Now, due to whatever it had been Inori had done just now, the virus has become active again, swirling around in his arm in its entirety, ready to lay waste to everyone around it the moment it would be allowed to taste freedom. The remains of the previous apocalypse…it laid at his command.

"Just in case. If anything really was to happen to me, use it to protect yourself. It will protect you in my stead. Though you would want to only use it as a last resort as without my help, you would not be able to control the virus once you released it. It would kill anyone, not differentiating between friend or foe…" His queen explained to him with a slight warning tone and a raised finger.

"What a scary power to hold…" Shu admitted truthfully as he looked down on his void arm now that the greenish lines that had previously covered it had turned into a gleaming mix or purple and pink, as if it was unable to contain the sheer amount of genomic resonance inside it completely. He slowly began to grasp the heavy burden Inori was forced to bear now that she was Eve. To wield the power to potentially end the world…he only held part of it right now, and it still terrified him. What that thing in his right hand could potentially do…he didn't even want to think of it.

"I will do anything to ensure you will be able to uphold your promise. Never will I allow myself to end like Mana who had failed to protect what was most precious to her…" She told him her reasoning to grant him that power. She really was going all out on this, doing anything in her might to make sure he was protected. It made him feel conflicted.

On one hand, he was moved deeply by her willingness to go that far to keep him save, but on the other hand, he wanted to do the same for her. He wasn't allowed to, though, now that she had made him promise to prioritize his own life over hers like a coward. He understood the reasoning behind it, but that didn't make it feel any better to him.

"Let's hope I will never have to use it." He mumbled absentmindedly while pondering these things. He saw her nod tiredly.

"Though if you have to, please don't hesitate to do so." He noticed how she pretty much slurred these words now with half closed eyes. Following that, she closed them completely and appeared to have fallen asleep, apparently having used up the last bit of her strength with that last deed of hers. And just like that, she lied there next to him, still holding his hand with both of hers, stuck in that praying pose he found to be quite cute. It made him kiss the back of her hand and offer her a devoted:

"As you night, Inori." He then decided to divert his attention away from his queen and up to the ceiling, wondering if he would find some sleep for the rest of the night as well. The truth was, even though his leg felt slightly better now that he lied down and had properly been treated by Inori, it still hurt quite a lot. Not enough to make him constantly whine, but enough to distract him from getting the necessary ease required to fall asleep in the first place, despite his tiredness.

Painkillers, a kingdom for painkillers! A weak smile crawled up on his lips once that thought passed his mind, though he didn't quite have a kingdom to give in the first place. Well, he still wouldn't say no to a bit of morphine right now, though. Heck, as far as he was concerned, he wouldn't mind getting shot up with that stuff until he was high enough to catch the clouds. Anything would do if it allowed him to catch some precious Zs right now.

Well, at least he would get to see more of Inori's sleeping face. As little as it was a proper substitute for sleep, it still was a very pleasant view to behold. And maybe, if he was lucky, its view would calm him down and distract him long enough to make him forget the pain.

And like that, that shitty day of theirs eventually came to a close. With things going the way they currently did, he wondered how bad the next one would be.

He had no idea that this was only just the beginning.


	21. Downfall

* * *

**21\. Downfall**

The morning came. And with it the first sun rays decided to infiltrate the room the two monarchs had recently claimed as their own. Not caring the slightest that the window was covered in crystals, they simply forced their way through it without the slightest bit of effort at all. Though they couldn't avoid getting refracted in the process, causing them to create beautiful light patterns all around the former patient room.

One of these rays ended up hitting the queen's face, causing her to frown in displeasure. Her mind seemed to subconsciously tell her to not mind them, to simply turn around and continue her resting, but the damage had already been done. As if flipping the "on" switch on her, the sunlight apparently had started the booting process of her brain, thus shoving her subconscious away into the depths of her mind to let her own thoughts be in control of her actions once again.

Slowly, she opened her eyes halfway, looking sleepy. She blinked a few times in order to get her foggy sight back into focus, only to be greeted by the familiar color of her king's reddish brown eyes which gently kept looking at her. Realizing this, she seemed to lose more of her sleepiness, as was evidently shown by her opening her eyes wide from surprise, followed by returning his gentle look right back at him.

"You are awake?" She decided to ask him. He nodded tiredly.

"Couldn't sleep."

She frowned at that. "Not at all?"

"Hardly. I think I nodded off once or twice, but it's impossible to tell if it had been for a few hours or minutes. I watched you sleep instead. It helped me relax somehow." He told her with a small smile. She couldn't really gain any happiness from those words, despite their sweetness. Instead, she eyed him sadly and with worry.

"Was it because of the pain?" She asked him while stroking his hair as if trying to make the pain go away that way. Of course it wouldn't work, but Shu still appreciated the gesture with a nod.

"Yeah. I also couldn't change my position easily, so it was a bit uncomfortable as well."

"You should have woken me up. I could have put you to sleep." She told him with nothing but regret visible on her face. Shu blinked a few times in surprise.

"You can do that?"

"Of course. I could do that much even before I was Eve. Don't you remember? I used it on you when-" She suddenly stopped talking, apparently realizing something midsentence. Instead of continuing she only looked down in shame. Once she saw Shu's still confused face, however, she couldn't avoid finishing the sentence.

"…when I put you to sleep to run away and face GHQ on my own…" Her voice was quiet and she faced away from Shu, unable to bear the hurt look on his face once he understood.

"Oh, that's right. I remember…" She heard his voice, now sounding quite sad and having a bit of betrayal mixed into it. It broke her heart hearing him like this. "We…won't ever get back into such a situation, right?"

She immediately turned around to him again and embraced him, almost a bit too strongly out of desperation.

"No, Shu. I will never leave your side again." She told him truthfully. She couldn't even afford to. She would feel uneasy if she weren't at his side to protect him if needed to. He was her Adam now. Her most precious person in the world. Even if she had to face a thousand deaths, she would take them all if it would mean that he would not have to suffer even a single one. That's right. It was Eve's job to suffer for her Adam, not the other way around.

"That's right." Shu then said with a relieved smile as he returned the hug. "You promised after all."

"I did." She nodded determinedly. "And I meant it."

"Then I guess I will have nothing to worry about, though I wonder…if you could use the sleeping trick all along…couldn't you have used it on me yesterday before you started my treatment?" She heard him ask with a bit of confusion visible on his face. She froze instantly.

When Shu saw her eyes opening up wide and the pupils in them becoming small from shock, he began getting a little worried for his queen, who soon after began putting both her hands on each side of her head, followed by turning around to hide the redness of her face from him with now closed eyes, eyelids pressed together heavily out of shame and frustration. Shu couldn't see that, though.

"Ah, are you mad, Inori?" Shu guessed nervously due to her sudden actions. "I am sorry, I don't really know much about your limits. I am sure you didn't do it because you couldn't, after all. Maybe it needs too much energy, or something?" He saw her flinch as if in pain. No way, did he make her cry? He still couldn't see her face, so that was the most reasonable assumption. He wasn't that far off. She really did feel like crying, though not because of him…

"…rry." He heard her mumble something in a very quiet voice. It was almost a whisper.

"Um, did you say something? I couldn't quite understand."

"I am so sorry, Shu!" She suddenly turned around to him with teary eyes and grabbed his hand. "I forgot!"

"…Eh?" He blinked a few times at her in confusion.

"I…I learned to do so much recently, I kind of forgot I could still do that until now. Or rather, I was so focused on treating your injury that I didn't even stop to think about it long enough." She tried to explain herself to him, though realizing herself that it was no excuse at all. She readily awaited his scolding for her carelessness that had sent him through so much unnecessary pain…

However, all she heard of him was a tired and slightly disappointed sigh.

"I see…that's really regrettable." Was all he said as he shook his head with closed eyes.

"You are not mad?" She asked him with slight surprise present in her voice.

"I am…though more at myself than at you. You tried your hardest yesterday while I was just dragging your down constantly. I should have remembered myself that you had such an ability and reminded you of it. Expecting of you to do everything perfectly would be too much. After all, we are still human, Genesis or not, right?"

"I am still so awfully sorry…I caused you a lot of pain…" She still seemed somewhat depressed about her mistake and couldn't even look him in his eyes.

"Well, perhaps you can make up for it, then." He told her with a weak smile as he kissed her on the lips, immediately melting all her worries away. That was until she realized that his mouth felt somewhat dry, alarming her of another issue of theirs.

She drew away from the kiss gently and asked her king: "Shu, are you thirsty?"

"A little. I can bear it, though, as there is nothing to drink."

She got up from the bed at once, followed by making sure Shu's black coat that still rested on her lied properly on her body…well, as well as a slightly oversized coat could anyway.

"That's no good. I will head out to get us water and food." She declared determinedly and re-wrapped her scarf around her neck after it had become slightly loose during her sleep. Shu frowned at her declaration.

"All on your own? The military manages the distribution of rations, you know? It's dangerous."

"Don't worry. I will manage somehow. There is no way I will let us die of hunger and thirst of all things." She told him with a confident expression before lifting her right index finger and pointing it at her king's forehead.

"Sleep, Shu. You need to rest."

He nodded and accepted her assistance. "I am sorry to be such a burden."

"You aren't." She denied with a shake of her head, causing him to smile.

"Be careful."

"Of course." With that, she concentrated on her ability to put people to sleep. She felt a small surge of power travel down from her shoulder to her hand where it channeled into her finger and eventually entered her king's head, making him immediately close his eyes and drifting off into the land of dreams. Seeing him rest peacefully on the bed made her smile, knowing how much he needed it.

Before leaving the room, she took hold of his hand to receive the full boost from her Adam and kneeled down to put her other, free hand on the ground. From the spot she touched, many more small crystals spawned, each forming a slim line as they traveled into all directions. They found their way through all nooks and crannies of the building and were so slim, that you wouldn't notice them unless you actively looked for them. When she was done, they had covered the whole premise of the building, even going as far as to hide among the vines on the wall that surrounded the abandoned institute.

This hard to see network of crystals was to act as an extension to her senses. Through them, she could detect every life form that would come near them, thus enabling her to always know who entered or left the compound. If a suspicious individual were to come here, she would notice immediately and be able to react.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the feedback her crystal network provided her with. There were about thirty homeless currently living in this building, give or take. She couldn't see them, as the crystals had been made too slim and therefore too fragile and weak to provide her with visuals, but she could feel the presence of the apocalypse virus inside them and could therefore determine their status as homeless residents. Most of them were staying on the lowest floor and a couple on the first. The second, on which she and Shu currently were, also had a few, but not anywhere near them. The third and fourth floor were empty and there were three people on the roof, also homeless. No presence of suspicious individuals could be detected.

She opened her eyes again and severed her connection with the crystal network she had created, feeling relieved to know that there was no danger currently nearby. With this, she felt safe enough to leave Shu alone for a short while to scavenge for food. She was confident that she wouldn't be gone for long.

"I am off." She whispered as not to wake her king, then left the room, shutting the door behind her as quietly as possible.

The compound was slightly more busy during the daytime. People were awake now and either loitering around on the hallway, talking to each other or preparing themselves to go out and do whatever it was that they had planned to do out in the city…probably doing the same as her. Scavenging for supplies.

The queen couldn't help but notice the high amount of visible virus infections in this place as she passed them by. Most were at the early stages and a handful at stage two. Only a few were already beyond that, struggling to even still move. Some were assisted by other people, while others were left to their own devices, pretty much left to die.

Wasn't it ironic? People dying of the after effects of the apocalypse virus inside a building which had once been dedicated to find a cure for it? What had once been meant to be hope for the infected had turned out to be their final resting place. The thought was saddening. Somewhere in her heart, she felt the desire to save them, but in another part of her heart, another feeling warned her of such foolishness. Even if she were to heal the ones at stage two or lower, they would call her a monster and rat her out to the public anyway. Her mercy would be met by betrayal yet again, her good intentions misunderstood by the ignorance of the people.

And thus she passed them by, ignoring their pleading eyes, though with a heavy heart. They were not her responsibility. Her own and Shu's wellbeing came first and foremost. Besides, those that were beyond stage two were beyond help anyway. Not even she could save them. All she could offer them would be to accelerate the infection process to allow them a swift death without much suffering…and she had the suspicion that no one would really appreciate that, not to mention that it would draw unnecessary attention towards her as well.

She exited the building and passed the guard at the gate. It was a different one from the one who had let Shu and her in last night, but that had been hardly surprising. After having stood watch at the gate all night, he probably had gone to sleep. The new watchman didn't know her, but once he saw her, all he asked her was: "You new here?" to which she replied with a short nod.

"A shame to see a beauty like you end up here. Be careful of the people around you. We may try to keep scum out, but as everyone around here is pretty much doomed to die sooner or later, they might lose their last shreds of self-control around you. Don't trust anyone around here too much, including me." He warned her. She didn't reply, only nodded again which seemed to be enough for the hobo who then diverted his attention from her and back onto his surroundings, apparently having lost interest in her.

Like that, she left the premises and began her search, wandering the almost empty streets of Tokyo. At first, she would try checking out the various stores in search for any sort of leftover food, but that had turned out to be nothing but futile effort. By now, even the most secure convenience stores had been robbed clean. Whatever the owned and the employees hadn't already taken for themselves, others long since had. She soon gave up on even trying.

Some people she met on the streets had seen her searching and felt the need to tell her what she had realized herself. That it was hopeless. Not a single store was still selling goods anymore. They told her that if she wanted to get supplies, there would be no other choice but to get them form the SDF. With a frown, she inclined as to where the nearest outpost was and after she had found out about the location, she had already been on her way after offering them a few words of thanks.

The military was handing out supplies on certain distribution camps around the city. The supplies came in via airdrop at Narita airport and were transported to the camps through the help of escorted convoys which the Undertakers had assaulted every once in a while in irregular patterns as to not let the SDF guess when and where they would strike again.

Because of the assaults, the convoys were now escorted very heavily. Recently even with the help of Endlaves. Inori could probably take them on, but it would be risky. She deemed the chances of her getting hurt rather low, but the SDF would undoubtedly get alerted and send reinforcements, leaving her only a small time window in which she had to eliminate all hostiles, take the supplies and vanish without leaving a trail. It would hardly be worth the effort, given how she was only one person and couldn't even take enough supplies with her to warrant the trouble. Most of it would be left behind and she would have risked getting caught for only little gain. She needed another plan.

As she was thinking that, she noticed a rather big gathering of people near the entrance of a park. The red and blue light of police cars was continuously flashing all around them as well. Finding that to be quite curious, she decided to take a closer look at the scene in order to find out what this was all about. Once she came closer, she found out that the area was sealed off by the police who was investigating "a rather weird" crime scene, if the words of the people she overheard could be trusted.

She did not get too close, only passing the crowd by while using her enhanced hearing to find out what they were talking about. She soon realized that the police was investigating the death of an unknown person whose corpse bore a huge mystery to them for it appeared as if it had fallen from the sky. Something that should have been absolutely impossible since there was nothing around the area from which he could have fallen. She overheard people starting to theorize if the victim had fallen out of a plane, while others were speculating if it was one of the "lunatics from loop seven" which had attempted to break free and hat been shot down by the SDF. Another one said she had been the one who had found the corpse, saying she had been horrified to find a bloody mass of what looked like it might have been human once, lying on the slide on the children's playground. According to her depictions, it had looked like it had splatted on there as if someone had thrown an overripe fruit. The blood was apparently all over the place.

That had been all Inori needed to know what this had all been about, realizing that they must have been talking about no one else but Juan. So this was where he had landed…it had been far too dark yesterday to really tell. She took a mental note to take a different route back to Shu once she was done with her search for supplies. There was no need to unnecessarily cross paths with the police, even if they were probably already more than enough preoccupied with solving the mystery of the traitor's death. Not that it was a mystery to her…

Leaving the scene behind, she soon started encountering more and more people, all heading the same way as her, probably wanting to receive supplies from the SDF. This brought her back to her original problem: How would she get said supplies?

To be handed food, water and vaccines from the military, one needed to identify themselves, either by handing them your ID or telling them your name so that they could check the database themselves. Unfortunately, "Inori Yuzuriha" was officially "dead", so if she were to give them her name, they would immediately detain her for one reason or the other. Either they would call her an impostor or, if they had already made the connection that Genesis were dead people come back to live, they would realize her for what she was, a Genesis, and arrest her anyway. Needless to say that this plan was not an option.

So, should she wait for someone to get their rations and rob them off said possessions? She could easily do that, but she would have to follow the individual to an isolated spot to assault them without anyone noticing. If said person came with a car, which would be likely, she would not be able to keep up, too. It would be troublesome and would take a lot of time. Was there another option?

An idea crossed her mind. Making sure that no one watched her, she tried to form a crystal between both palms of her hands. After concentrating on it for a while, she lifted the upper hand to reveal a valuable purple gemstone. She wasn't exactly sure if her creation could be considered genuine or a fake, but it at least looked like an amethyst. Maybe someone would be willing to trade half of their supplies with her in exchange for this thing?

She continuously called selected few individuals over into an alleyway near the SDF camp, choosing people who looked as if they were alone, not really all that bright and possibly even greedy. It didn't take her long to find a taker for her offer.

The man in question was young, maybe in his mid-twenties with short black hair and a three-day stubble. He wore a red pullover under his black jacket and dark blue jeans. What little could be seen of his hair was hidden under a grey beanie which bore the brand of a famous fashion brand. He made big eyes when he saw the sparkling gem in her hands.

"Where the hell did you get that?" He asked her in surprise.

"Does it matter?" She replied with narrowed eyes, making clear that she had no intentions of telling him of the stone's origin.

"I suppose not. So, all I have to do is give you half of my supplies?" He had a disgustingly greedy grin plastered on his face which almost made her take a step back from him. It was obvious what was going on in the man's head. He could get new supplies every 3 to 4 days and the SDF wasn't known to be stingy with their rations, either, which meant that if he took it easy for half a week, he could easily live with half of the usual amount. In exchange, he would get this beauty of a gem. It was basically a gift to him. He would lose nothing at all by accepting the offer.

"We have a deal." He declared, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Good. Meet me here after you have received your rations. We will make the exchange then." The queen told him, to which he happily turned around and trailed away into the direction of the camp with a carefree: "Fine with me."

She had to wait half an hour for the man to eventually return at which point she had been quite happy for her coat's slight oversize which enabled her to hide even her hands inside the sleeves to save them from the biting cold. Her trading partner entered the alleyway with a medium sized bag full of supplies in his hands.

"This is what you wanted, right?" He asked her as he handed her the bag. She took it off him and threw a glance inside. A few bottles of orange juice and cans of food were inside. There was also a small bag of rice and a few shots of the vaccine in there. There wasn't that much, so she assumed he had already divided the amount and only returned with her share.

"Yes." Inori nodded contently and took out the amethyst from her pocket. "Take it, it's yours."

"Yeah, about that…" The man suddenly hesitated and massaged the back of his neck. "I've been thinking about this whole deal…mainly why you would offer something so valuable for so little…that's when I realized that it's quite useless, isn't it? After all, what am I supposed to do with that gem? Turn it into money? What for? It's not like there still is anything to buy around here…"

This made Inori frown at him. "We had a deal…"

"I know. And I have a better proposal for you." He told her while trying to smile at her, though his evil intentions were clearly visible. "See, you seem to be in a situation in which you can't get rations from the military. However, I can, so…why don't you just come live with me? I can provide for you, so you don't have to worry. What do you say?"

She shoved the amethyst into his hands forcefully and pushed him aside. "Not interested. You agreed to the previous deal, so take your reward and be happy with that.

"I insist, though." She heard him say and soon after noticed how other people appeared around the corner, all wearing shady expressions on their faces. Inori immediately took a few steps back, alerted due to their presence. When she attempted to turn around and take the other way, she saw more people show up there as well. No way. How many were there? She counted at least five. They closed up on her.

"There is no need to be afraid, miss. We won't harm you if you just agree to spend some time with us, what do you say?" The man with the beanie tried to persuade her, to which she only eyed him coldly.

"You are making a horrible mistake."

"Aw, come on. None of us has to think of this as a mistake. We can all have some fun together. What's so bad about letting loose now that the times are so grim? Might as well enjoy ourselves before the loop seven freaks kill us all, no?"

"If that's what you want, then I suggest you leave this place at once."

"Or what? Will you scream? Call for the SDF?" The man chuckled amusedly.

"I'll sing."

This made the man laugh. "Please do, love. I like you voice."

She eyed him defiantly for a second before she decided that she didn't care anymore. It was not her fault that it came to this. And so she started to hum a certain melody. A beautiful song of chaos and destruction. Of death and rebirth. The song that should bring the apocalypse. The men were laughing at first, until they noticed cancerous crumps being formed on their skin. Then their laughter suddenly turned into screams as confusion and terror spread among them.

"Wha-what's happening?"

"The virus? But I am vaccinated!"

"The SDF! They still have some! We need to get more, fast!"

Some turned around to run into the direction of the camp to get more vaccines, only to see Inori now blocking their way. What? When did she…? She had been so fast, they hadn't even seen her moving. They stepped back, now understanding that this girl was quite dangerous. Their expressions turned into despair when they saw her eyes glowing red followed by her taking a few steps closer to them.

She never stopped to sing.

"Is…is this your doing, miss? Look, can't you let us go? We never had any intention of hurting you, I swear!" The leader with the black jacket said nervously as he and his gang backed away. The first fell to their backs as their feet crystalized and made them lose their balance. They then tried to crawl away.

She kept singing.

"Miss, please. We will do whatever you want! Just…stop!"

She couldn't do that. They had seen too much, driven her too far. To protect herself and Shu, these men had to die. May the void realm have mercy on them. The first thugs had already crystalized completely, unable to still move. Inori stepped on their bodies. They crumbled apart under her feet as she kept walking forward.

"Fuck…thinking about it, there must have been a reason why you couldn't go to the SDF…you were one of them all along, weren't you? Damn, I should have realized…in the end, we will all die to these loop seven mon-." He didn't get further, as the virus claimed the rest of his body, turning him into a bizarre crystal statue. With this, Inori finally stopped humming her song and eyed the now dead man's remains coldly. This was always what it came down to. Kill or be killed. This was why she hated the world…no, Japan. She couldn't wait for them to leave this place behind. Shu was surely right…the rest of the world simply had to be better than this. It simply _had_ to.

She checked her surroundings to make sure no one had seen her do this, then she simply crushed all the crystal remains around her by forming a fist with her right hand, as if crushing something invisible inside it. Her eyes followed the small crystalline shards that shattered apart and got blown away into the wind, scattered around all of Tokyo. Once there was not the slightest clue left which could have possibly indicated what had occurred in this alleyway just a moment ago, she took the bag of supplies and left, eager to return to her king.

The way back to the abandoned building of the homeless was uneventful. None of the people had noticed the minimal spike of genomic resonance she had caused earlier, since everyone out of earshot hadn't been affected, so no one was alerted, no one ran into her and no one suspected her of anything. She avoided the police that investigated the case of Juan and returned to the compound safe and sound. The guy on watch from before let her through wordlessly.

She entered the building and passed two homeless while they were on their way out. Normally she would have ignored them, but she overheard them talking about something interesting, so she stopped walking and listened in on them.

"Shut the hell up, will you? No one believes your crap." One of them said, while the other one kept waving around with his arms exaggeratedly. The queen realized it was the man she had taken the whisky from yesterday.

"I keep telling you! I found the cure to the apocalypse virus! It really is alcohol!"

"Bullshit."

"It's true. I kept drinking yesterday and passed out. Then when I woke up this morning, I was completely cured! Not a trace left of that virus."

"Then you are a lucky bustard who must have found a vaccine shot and taken it while you were piss drunk. If alcohol really was the solution, no one in the world would die to the virus, stupid." The annoyed one waved the other one off as if to signal him how tired he had already become of listening to him. The drunkard noticed the gesture and stopped following him.

"Oh yeah? Well, screw you. I don't care if you believe me or not. I already found people who believe me. They were even grateful enough for the information that they gave me more whisky!" He raised the full bottle of liquor in triumph, getting annoyed when the other party didn't even turn around to look. He grumbled something unintelligible in his direction before turning around and planning to go back inside. However, he got surprised by Inori standing in his way.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." She said, which immediately seemed to lift the poor mood of the drunkard since she must have been the first one around here to actually pay attention to him.

"Ah, could it be that you believe me?"

"Actually, I am more interested in the people who seemed to have believed you." She told him truthfully. It worried her that he had talked about people who believed him. It sounded fishy.

"Ah, some fine people they were. Ran into them when I went over to the police station to tell them of my finding. Of course, I was not talking about the police itself…Everyone in there was rude and made fun of me. But when they kicked me out, there was a bunch of friendly fellas who offered to listen to my story. They didn't laugh at all and believed in my words. And the best of all? When I told them I lost my bottle of whisky, they gave me a new one! Just like that! Can you believe that?" He told her excitedly which only made her bite down on her lower lip. She had screwed up. This fool might have given away her and Shu's hiding spot to the enemy by blabbering about his sudden recovery. Da'ath and the Undertakers would immediately tie such a rumor back to her. She should have never bothered healing this man. What had she been thinking? If they were found out, it would have all been her fault.

"How did these people look like? Do you remember?" She asked him seriously, but he only tilted his head in confusion as he folded his arms.

"They looked like normal folks. Wore clean clothes, smelled nice. Gave off a similar atmosphere like you, actually. By the way, who are you, lady? Haven't seen you around."

Inori frowned at the man's description. It was utterly useless. People like her? Did he mean Genesis? Did he even know the difference? Probably not. Perhaps he only meant "clean people like you", which could have been anyone, really. Whoever it was, they might have followed this man back here, which meant this place could possibly not be safe anymore. Wait, maybe they were already here? What if they found Shu? She had to check up on him!

Without another word, she turned around and ran up the stairs, leaving behind the now rather perplexed homeless man all by himself. Not minding the curious looks of the people she passed by in a rush, she went up to the second floor where she ran straight to their room, opening the door in quite a rush. The crystal wall in front of it was still intact, immediately calming her down a bit. She passed the barrier to see Shu still sleeping peacefully on the bed, just the way she had left him.

She allowed herself to sigh in relief. If they had been found out, the enemy still hadn't had the time to make a move yet. Perhaps she was also just paranoid and they hadn't been found out at all, which she really hoped.

Finding her way back to her king's side, she proceeded to wake him up by shaking him slowly. He blinked at her shortly after, followed by yawning.

"Welcome back. Did you have any trouble?" He greeted her with a smile. When he saw her worried expression, his smile immediately dropped. "Did something happen?"

"I am not exactly sure yet." She explained and handed him the bag of food and water she had brought back with her. He took out one of the bottles with orange juice and asked:

"What do you mean?"

"I made a mistake yesterday. I healed the man I took the alcohol from…and he ended up telling it all around town." Her words nearly made him choke on the juice he was drinking. After a small coughing fit, he couldn't help but eye her disappointedly.

"Inori…"

"I am sorry…I wasn't thinking…" She lowered her gaze in shame. She had only meant well, but that might have ended up putting them in great danger. Why was it that every time she tried to be kind, it always ended up causing trouble? Was it bad luck? Or was she really cursed to be surrounded by disasters?

She shook her head, dismissing the thought. They had bigger problems right now. Kneeling down next to the crystal node she had created earlier, she established a connection with her right hand and closed her eyes to concentrate. The feedback she received from the network was as follows:

People with apocalypse virus infection: 34

Nothing out of the ordinary. She felt the positions of the infected she had just passed on her way here and they weren't out of order. The guard was still at the gate, now sharing company with the guy who had talked to the drunkard before. The drunkard himself appeared to have entered the building again and was loitering around near the reception area, probably enjoying his whisky. The other people were shown to be either on the hallway or in their rooms. Nothing suspicious could be seen.

Maybe nothing was wrong after all? She allowed herself to think that for a second, when she noticed that the feedback of her network changed.

People with apocalypse virus infection: 32

People with apocalypse virus infection (vaccinated): 4

People with absence of any kind of infection: 2

Her eyes opened wide in shock. Out of nowhere vaccinated people showed up and that wasn't even the worst part. There were two guys without any kind of infection, which could only mean one thing: Genesis. And if the Genesis were here, then that could only mean one thing. They came for Shu and her. She immediately stood up, slightly startling Shu, who was oblivious to any of her realizations.

"What's wrong?"

"They are here, Shu. We've been found out." His queen told him with a bitter expression.

"Seriously?" Shu cursed and was about to try getting up as well, when he saw his queen gesturing for him to wait.

"There are only two Genesis and four humans. I can take them." Were her words, sounding awfully determined as she headed for the door. However, the king caught hold of her arm and stopped her.

"Don't be reckless! It could be a trap. We should run while we still can. If it's Da'ath, they are bound to try to trick us." He argued, but Inori only looked at him with sadness.

"But you are in no condition to run…your leg will never heal if we don't give it time to recover…"

"If we were found out, staying here is no option anyway…" He told her, his voice full of regret. It would have been nice if they would have been able to stay here for at least a few days, but that didn't seem like an option anymore.

"No matter if we are running or staying, there is no way around a fight, given the fact that they must have already entered the building by now." Inori said worriedly. She couldn't just take Shu out of here while the enemy was in the same building. They could run into each other while they tried to get away…and since Shu couldn't walk, they would be at a disadvantage in terms of mobility. If they encountered the enemy in that state, they would be done for. The safest course of action was for her to go out and dispose of them first, then come back and help Shu reach the roof. From there, they could try flying away.

"I am going, Shu." She decided. "There is no other way…"

"Damnit…if it weren't for this leg, I…" She heard her king curse in frustration. She could clearly feel the worry for her in his voice.

"It will be fine. Your feelings are boosting my powers even if you are not directly next to me. I will protect us."

"I…just wish I could help somehow…" He let her go and looked down in defeat, feeling ashamed of his uselessness. That's when he felt her putting her hands on both sides of his head, gently lifting it again to look at her as she smiled at him kindly.

"Don't feel down, Shu. Remember, as long as you live, everything will be fine. You will help most by staying alive." She told him to which he reluctantly nodded. It wasn't the way he _wanted_ to help, but right now, it was the only way he _could_. His expression became determined.

"I am going to try my hardest, Inori. So you do, too."

"I will." He watched her slowly taking a few steps away from him, looking very reluctant to leave him alone, but in the end, she still turned around and vanished through the crystal barrier. The king kept looking into the direction she had vanished into until his mind managed to bring him back to his senses. Taking out the pistol Inori had given him yesterday, he checked the magazine to see it was fully loaded. Then he shoved it back into the gun and unlocked the safety with a gulp. He had not used guns much, but if enemies really were to come for him, he would be able to at least put up a fight with it.

Let them come…he was ready.

-GC-

The queen for her part was already standing by the stairs, hiding around a corner and checking the crystal network by touching the barely visible crystal line present on the wall. Two vaccinated person remained at the gate while two others were currently on the first floor, looking as if they were about to make their way up to the second one. One Genesis was with them, while the other one was slightly lagging behind. Good. This made it easier for her.

Like most stairways, this one ended in a U-turn halfway between floors. She silently took the first steps down and prepared herself to ambush them once they would turn around the corner. It would be swift, it would be silent, and they would not see it coming. Their allies would not get the chance to become alarmed, thus enabling her to finish them off while they still had their guards down.

At least that had been the plan…until she heard the voices of the intruders.

"Hey, girl. That thing cook rice?" One of the homeless asked loudly as the group of strangers passed him by.

"Does that robot look like a fucking rice cooker to you, moron?" The girl in question replied angrily. Inori's eyes opened wide. That voice…!

"Calm down, Tsugumi. He didn't mean to offend you or your creation." Another, calmer voice was then heard. It sounded like a certain brunette's younger brother.

"Nevermind him. We need to find them before anyone else does." Said brunette man could then be heard. Inori stood up and revealed herself by stepping around the corner, making the three not-so-unfamiliar individuals stop dead on their tracks.

The queen looked down at them from her elevated position on the stairs and realized that, indeed, in front of her stood Yahiro, Jun and Tsugumi, the latter was also holding a certain small robot she was so fond of creating. That must have been the thing the homeless man Inori had heard earlier had mistaken for a rice cooker.

"Inori!" "Inoreen!" "Your grace!" They all exclaimed at the same time, sounding truly relieved. However, when they tried to come near her, the pink haired woman raised her hand threateningly and said: "Stop."

The trio immediately halted, looking at her with shocked expressions. The tone of her voice sounded dangerous enough.

"What's wrong, Inoreen? We came to help." The hacker among them asked her worriedly. Inori looked at her with a troubled expression.

"I don't know if I can trust you…" She voiced her worries openly, looking conflicted to them. As if she was weighing out whether she should believe in her friends or doubt them. Unfortunately for them, it seemed like the latter option was winning her over. Realizing that, Yahiro decided to act fast before she could make up her mind in an unfavorable way.

"What are you saying, Inori? Aren't we friends?" He tried to convince her, but she only shook her head doubtfully.

"Argo was a friend, too." She objected.

"I know how you must feel, my queen. But I have served you for years…surely you can trust me?" Now it was Jun who tried his luck, however, to no avail.

"So had Juan…" Her expression became bitter, as if recalling said guy's face alone had brought up some of her darker emotions. Ones she wasn't particularly fond of.

"This is insane, Inoreen. We have always been on the same side. Should we really be questioning one another in dire times like these?" The queen frowned at Tsugumi's words. There lied truth in them. She really could use some help for Shu with there being only so much she could do on her own, but…was it really safe? What if they came under Argo's orders? Now that she thought about it, hadn't Tsugumi sided with Argo rather than Shu back in the Tennozu days? It was too dangerous. She couldn't risk it.

"Leave." She demanded of them. As if listening to her, every unrelated person around them started to back away, realizing that some serious tension was going on right now. No one wanted any part of it. The terrorist trio, however, remained where they were.

"Inoreen!" Tsugumi tried to object by stepping forward, making the queen take one step forward in a threatening fashion as well.

"I won't ask a second time." The tip of a crystal blade appeared under her right sleeve. It was barely visible, but the three terrorists noticed it nonetheless. "I won't let you near Shu."

"Did…did something happen to him, perhaps?" Yahiro inquired with caution, putting a hand on Tsugumi's shoulder and pulling her back slightly to calm the defensive queen down. Inori's behavior reminded him of a wounded animal, lashing out at everyone who was coming too close in order to protect itself. Now Inori didn't exactly look hurt anywhere, but if she still acted that way, it could only mean that something else that was very important to her got hurt instead. Naturally, that must have been Shu. When he saw her eyes widen up for a second, he immediately knew that he had hit the bullseye. However, this also got Inori more alarmed. Her expression warped into a really angry one, probably getting frustrated because they had found out about something she hadn't wanted them, potential enemies, to know.

"Nothing happened." She denied his claims.

"Then where is he? If he is not at your side, then that must have a reason, no? You two were basically inseparable all the time." Yahiro didn't give up, causing Inori's eyes to start glowing red. Jun and Tsugumi flinched.

"What are you doing, Yahiro? You are making it worse!" The hacker whispered to him with a bit of fear in her voice. Inori looked as if she was close to lashing out at them. But the brunette strategist kept cool.

"If Shu's hurt. We can help." He said calmly, not letting his fear be audible in his voice. Cold sweat was running down the back of his neck, but Inori couldn't see that. Her eyes narrowed down on him, looking at him with nothing but suspicion. Still, she asked:

"How…?"

That was the moment the second Genesis came running up to them from the stairway below.

"Sorry, guys. I couldn't find them on the lower floor." The newcomer told them while being slightly out of breath. It was a familiar girl with brunette hair that was kept in two red bows.

"Don't worry, Hare, we already found one of them." Jun kindly told her and pointed at Inori with his right index finger. The kind medic turned around with a surprised "Huh?" only to sport a huge smile once she realized it was Inori who was standing there.

"Thank goodness! Inori's fine! Wait, is something wrong?" Apparently, she finally noticed the tense atmosphere surrounding them. Yahiro sent a look Inori's way that could best be described as "Need I say more?", causing her to bite down on her lower lip, visibly troubled. However, she closed her eyes and sighed soon after, letting the red glow of her eyes vanish.

"Follow me." She said and turned around. "And sorry…" Then she started going up the stairs, waiting for them to come after them.

Jun raised his fist high into the air in a silent cheer, praising his brother for doing a good job, while said brother merely let out a relieved sigh himself, followed by smiling at his brother and saying that it was all thanks to Hare showing up at the right time. Tsugumi then gave said brunette medic a bear hug, crying "You saved us! You may be perverted, but you are a fine girl nonetheless!" into her bosom. The last one of the quartet didn't understand anything at all and just kept looking at them all while repeating a confused "Eh? Eh?" repeatedly, in addition to freezing to Tsugumi's last remark. Was "being perverted" her new trademark now?

They then ran up after Inori together, who led the way back to Shu. While they were following her, they filled Hare in on what had just happened, causing her to be quite surprised.

"Huh, Inori didn't trust you guys?"

"Can you blame her? I wouldn't trust Yahiro, either." Tsugumi could be heard teasing the man next to her with a wide smirk, earning an annoyed growl from him in response.

"Huh? Why?" Jun wanted to know.

"Because your brother here has a history for being quite the turncoa-mmmph." The hacker's words were cut off by the older man's hand being pressed firmly on her mouth.

"Why don't we let the past be the past, what do you say?" He asked her with a smile, though on closer inspection, you could clearly see the vein on his forehead pulsing out of anger. The hacker couldn't help but gulp and nod.

"I am really sorry…" They could hear Inori say as she looked down in sadness. She had not been wrong to try to play it safe, but now that it had turned out that she had been wrong to doubt them, she felt stupid for having done so in the first place.

"Don't worry, my queen. We understand." Jun was quick to meet her apology with kind words. "After all, you couldn't have been entirely sure we weren't sent by Argo, right?"

Tsugumi couldn't help but add a snarky "Tch." to that. "That darn idiot…"

"But wait…what made you trust us in the end? I don't quite understand." Hare's question as directed at Inori, but it was Yahiro who replied to it with a knowing smirk.

"Do you really need to ask, Miss I-sacrifice-my-very-existence-for-the-one-I-lo…?"

"I get it!" She hastily yelled, getting flustered at his words and earning her a few knowing smirks from the man and the hacker next to him. Sheesh, she wished she never asked!

"Hare is the most trustable person I have ever met. She would never betray Shu or me. If she is with you all, it is entirely unlikely that you are on Argo's side." Inori then explained her reasoning to her, making her look at the pink haired monarch in front of her with astonishment. She was apparently so moved by the queen's words that tears of happiness formed in her eyes. She suddenly couldn't help but storm forward and hug her from behind.

"Inori…"

Said person was a bit taken aback by her sudden actions, but accepted the hug with a smile nonetheless. That was when she remembered something.

"Wait, weren't there two more vaccinated people with you?"

"No? Only we four came. Ayase wanted to come as well, but it was too hard to sneak her out with us." Jun depicted the situation to her, causing her to frown in confusion.

"But there were two more at the gate…I sensed you pass them."

It was Hare who seemed to recall what she could have meant, putting a finger on her lips as she thought back. "Are you perhaps talking about the homeless at the gate? They wouldn't let us in, so we bribed them with vaccines…the Undertakers have enough now, after all."

Inori immediately relaxed once she had heard that explanation. So that's what it had been. There were no enemies after all.

"Still, to think that Tsugumi's plan actually worked." They heard Yahiro shrug with a sigh. "I half expected her robot to be useless."

This caused the hacker's dark hair to stand up as she hissed at him, making her look like a furious cat. "You dare doubt Funezo's ability to track Shu? Apologize to him this instant!" She held up the Funell look-alike that was apparently called Funezo, showing it into Yahiro's face, who simply pushed the device back with his hands.

"Get that piece of junk out of my face."

Inori only eyed them questioningly as she tilted her head. "That's not Funell?" How weird. She had thought it was. It looked like him.

"It's not! But I don't blame you for mistaking him for his father! This one's actually Funell's child. I made it for Shu when he was still blind!" She explained to her while puffing out her chest in pride. She ignored Yahiro who only sighed at her in annoyance as he put his hand on his forehead and proceeded to shake his head in disbelief.

"I actually made enough for everyone, but Shu's one got destroyed before this whole mess started. When you guys ran away, I fixed him as soon as I could since I made him so that he could always track Shu." She continued her explanation, followed by scratching her cheek awkwardly. "I kiiiinda had to plant a small microchip below Shu's skin without him knowing for it to work…please don't tell him." She looked away in guilt and smiled sheepishly. Only to run into Inori who had suddenly stopped walking forward.

"Ah, please don't get mad. I didn't have bad intentions when I did…" She immediately assumed it had been because of her words and tried to apologize when Inori interrupted her by turning around and asking:

"You haven't found this place by bribing a homeless man with whisky?"

This caused the four people in front of her to frown at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Her eyes widened. Could it be…?

As if on cue, the sound of chaos could be heard from the floor below. The cries of many panicked people filled the halls of the abandoned hospital.

"What's going on?" Jun asked in confusion while Inori looked for the nearest part of her crystal network. She didn't need long to spot a small vine hidden in the corner between the floor and the right wall and didn't waste a second putting a finger on it, only to retract her hand immediately in surprise.

Fifteen Genesis! And the amount of infected was declining as well…

They came in groups of three and there were five all around the premises. Two groups were at both entrances of the building, another team stood by the gate, one was at the roof and another one had…jumped off the roof? The queen looked in the direction she had sensed the last one jumping off questioningly, only to hear some strange crumbling noise coming from outside, directly above them. From the windows they could see dust and small debris falling down, followed by the Genesis in question kicking in one of the windows and entering the hallway in a rather grand way.

He landed in front of them, filling the ground with countless shards from the now broken glass. The dark brunette man slowly got up from his kneeling position, readjusting his glasses with his left while holding his gloved right hand in front of him, ready for combat. Purple energy claws were present on the glove and the queen didn't need long to understand that he had used them to slow down his descend by ramming them into the outer wall during his fall. It had been just enough to enable him to intercept them the way he eventually had.

"Eve, Da'ath has come to escort you to Tennozu High. Please follow me without resistance." He said with a serious expression. Yahiro and Hare only looked at their former classmate in shock. Jun eyed the man angrily as well, knowing him for the traitor he ultimately was.

"Nanba?"

"Wasn't that the bastard from your school?" Tsugumi realized as well, frowning as unpleasant memories of him reemerged.

Inori for her part did not hesitate at all. Summoning both her crystal blades, she immediately lunged forward at him with an angry glare. The enemy had appeared at last. There was no time to waste!

He parried her first strike with the help of his claws and dodged the other one by rolling off.

"Tch, what's this supposed to be? A class reunion?" He took out two crystal stones from inside his coat and threw them on the ground. "And what the hell are you guys waiting for? Come out and help me out, for fuck's sake."

He seemed to have directed the last part to the stones he had thrown away. They had barely even touched the ground when, out of each one, a Genesis emerged. The first one was a slender guy with hornrims and a hunched over posture. He wore a simply white shirt and a boring blue tie under a dark jacket. He was a stereotypical Japanese white collar employee. The kind that you would normally see slouching through the streets of Tokyo, walking back and forth between home and work like mindless zombies, often completely drained off their vitality.

The other one was dressed similarly, but still gave off a completely different vibe. She was a beautiful young woman, who radiated nothing but elegance and confidence. Her curly black hair was shoulder-length and covered the right side of her face. Directly under the other, sole visible eye, there was a beauty mark, further adding to the office lady's attractiveness. She even wore high heels! Was this woman serious?

"Ack, the queen? No way, Mr. Hirohide. That's way above my level." The slouch immediately complained once he saw his opponent. However, his boss' angry voice made him tense up right away.

"Shut up and do you job, loser!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

The office lady followed up to that, putting a hand on the side of her head and tilting it slightly. "Oh dear, I don't mind fighting her for you, sweetie, but you know it will cost you, right?"

"I know. You will get your reward afterwards." They heard Nanba grumble in an annoyed fashion, causing her to lick her lips in sweet anticipation, followed by forming a grin.

"Remember. It's fine to kill her if you have to. Go all out on her." Their boss' words would normally have rung the bell to the beginning of the battle, but Inori would have none of that. She stepped on the ground heavily and small crystal spikes started shooting out of it. The enemies avoided them easily and were about to say something cocky in return, when the floor beneath their feet suddenly started shaking, crumbling apart

That's when they realized what was happening, but they were too late to stop or avoid it. The ground that had lost its stability thanks to the piercing crystals collapsed and took the enemies who were standing on it with them on their way down to the lower floor. All they could do was yelling in surprise as they fell down. The queen then hurried to close the gaping hole with crystals so that she and her friends could cross it.

"Well, that was surprisingly easy." Yahiro couldn't help but say.

"We don't have time to play around with them. We have to get to Shu and escape!" Inori merely said and started running into the direction of Shu's room. "Come on, hurry!"

They had barely started running after her when out of the ground, countless swords of light started shooting out, only missing them by a hair's length.

"What the hell's happening!" Tsugumi cried as she managed to avoid one of the projectiles through sheer luck alone.

"They are shooting form below! Whatever you do, do not stop running!" Jun yelled over the noise of projectiles piercing the concrete of the floor below them. Whatever these swords of light were, they sure went through stone like bullets through water.

"There they are!" They heard the voice of the wimpy guy from before as he suddenly appeared behind them. How the hell did he get up here so fast again? Nanba was beside him and giving chase. The wimp vanished into a flash of light for a brief second, only to reappear with the lady from before. No way. Another teleporting void?

"I won't let you get away!" Nanba's scream echoed through the hallway. The office lady was now seen creating more light swords out of thin air and shooting them directly at them again. So it had been her doing!

The queen quickly raised a protective wall behind them, catching the blades mid-flight. Luckily enough they seemed to find their way through concrete, but seemed to have trouble doing the same with the crystalline material.

"There! That's the one! Get inside!" Inori told them as she pushed the door open, quickly razing the protective crystal barrier inside to allow her friends entrance. Said individuals didn't hesitate to do as they were told, rushing inside the room as quickly as they could.

Inside, they were surprised to see three Shus lying in wait for them. Two were standing, one holding the singer's sword, while the other one held Yahiro's shears. The last Shu was still lying on the bed, aiming his pistol at them with his right hand. But only for a second, as realization of his friend's identities quickly reached him, making him lower his guard in surprise.

"Guys? What the hell are you doing here?" He asked them, looking completely baffled.

"I assume that's my void's doing?" Tsugumi wondered as she pointed at the Shu clones.

"No time for explanations! Hare, do your thing and let's get out of here!" Yahiro yelled once he heard the enemy pounding against the new crystal wall Inori had created behind the door as soon as they had entered the room.

The brunette medic did not hesitate to do just that. In just a moment's notice, her void was already lying in her hands only to be wrapped around Shu's leg by the next. The broken limp started to glow, getting embraced by the healing void's light, and once it faded, so did the pain and the injury with it.

The king gave her a thankful nod as he got up, feeling relieved to finally stand on his own two legs again.

"What's going on?" He then wanted to know.

"Da'ath is attacking! We need to escape before we are totally surrounded." Jun filled him in.

"How are we going to escape from here? The only exit is behind us and that's where that nutjob and his goons are waiting for us." Tsugumi brought up a significant problem.

"Out through the window." Inori then merely stated and pointed her hand into the direction of the crystals that covered said window. The structure immediately burst apart, its shards flying into the opposite direction to them. The explosion had created a huge hole in the wall.

"Are you mad? This is the second floor! We will end up with broken bones for sure!" Yahiro objected heavily after throwing a small glimpse outside and towards the ground. There was simply no way to land without a scratch.

That's when Shu summoned Ayase's void, making him levitate in the middle of the room.

"Everyone, hold onto me!"

His words were met with slight hesitation of his friends.

"I don't think that's a good idea, my king."

"Shu, we will definitely fall off."

"Isn't there another way?"

That was the moment the crystal wall behind them broke apart, revealing Nanba standing at the door with his glowing void-claws.

"Don't you fucking move!" He yelled at them, causing Inori to act on instinct, grabbing Hare and pushing her against Shu's back, where she then proceeded to get thrown over his shoulder thanks to the force alone. Next was Jun, who earned the same treatment on Shu's other shoulder. Then she grabbed Tsugumi's hand and made her cling to the king's lower leg while he himself started moving forward while taking hold of Yahiro's hand. One of Shu's clones grabbed Funezo and jumped out as well, while the other one proceeded to buy Inori enough time to follow Shu by engaging Nanba and his bunch. The rest happened quite fast.

Nanba's goons rushed in while the Shu clone tried to face them. He managed to push them back a bit only to get overwhelmed by them in the end. Shoving him aside, Nanba lunged forward to grab Inori, who had started running towards the real Shu, since he had already jumped out of the hole in the wall. Nanba's fingers were able to graze the skin of the queen's arm right at the moment she jumped off, where she got caught midair by Shu who had turned around just in time to catch her in his remaining free arm.

The moment he felt his queen in his arm, he started taking everything out of Ayase's void it could possibly give. It started glowing brightly and its small engines began to roar as they were told to reach their maximum acceleration. However, in the end, it was all for naught. Even on full output, they were still losing more and more altitude.

"We are too heavy!" The king yelled as the ground began coming nearer and nearer.

"We are falling!" Hare cried while closing her eyes in fear.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" Came Yahiro's yell right before they hit the ground.

They all let go right before they crashed, trying to roll off the damage. Everyone groaned afterwards, but no one seemed to be really hurt aside from a few scratches. The void had managed to slow their fall sufficiently to make them avoid serious injuries but was now completely exhausted. It would not fly again for at least a while now until it was given time to recharge, so the king dispelled it. His clone that had taken Funezo had landed in a way to make him receive the majority of the impact's damage, thus allowing the robot to roll off the now broken clone to rejoin the group unharmed.

"They are trying to get away from the east side! Sudou, Miyabi, help me out here!" They could hear Nanba yell into a crystal clump in his hand, followed by him climbing down the wall the same way as before, using his claw as a brake for his fall. The office lady was also transported down by having the wimpy salary man flash-stepping with her until they reached the ground. Soon after, Sudou and two brutes ran in a wall on the ground level and started their pursuit from their left side while Miyabi came running around the corner from the other side of the building with two of her own followers. This wasn't looking well for the royal couple and their friends.

"Run!" The king yelled, after he helped Hare up and turned around to face Yahiro, summoning back the void shears in his void arm after it had returned to him from his fallen clone. He pressed it into his hand wordlessly, earning a confident nod from his old friend. He would use it to protect himself.

Tsugumi ran back a bit to grab Funezo who came rolling towards her with his small wheels. She took a hold of him as soon as he was in her reach before turning around and running after her friends. She passed Shu and Yahiro, who were slowly covering the rear with their pistols by shooting at their closest adversaries. Neither of them really managed to hit their targets well enough, given the distance, but at least they slowed down the speed in which they came closer.

Nanba's and Miyabi's squad at least…Sudou's goons came running at them like bulldozers. They were both bulky men. One was wearing armor for a void that reminded the king of the protective gear of American football players without the tricot. It covered almost his entire body while glowing faintly in a purplish-blue sheen. The other one was a tall man wearing a red poncho which covered his lower face as he run. He carried a huge shuriken which he used as a shield as he approached them.

"Yahiro, I will take the ones on the left flank. Keep the other ones at bay." The king informed his friend as he summoned Inori's void back into his hands and swung it repeatedly, sending the silver thread extensions of the void blade out to harm them from afar, thus finally slowing down even their assault somewhat.

"Got it!" The elder Samukawa brother proceeded to focus his fire on Nanba and Miyabi, making it hard for them to close in on them. He also kept an eye on their goons, though he didn't really bother with the wimpy salary man, who just avoided all shots by flash-stepping around randomly. Shooting at him was a waste of bullets. He was more concerned about the lady with the swords of light she seemed to form by converting sunlight. She was currently only absorbing light, but was sure she would shoot new blades at him and his friends again. Miyabi's underlings were obviously melee-oriented. One was a blonde woman with long hair bound together in a ponytail. She wore a brown leather jacket with a black shirt underneath and had a red scarf wrapped around her neck. Her legs were covered in blue jeans and thick, black boots covered her feet. She was wielding a giant two-handed axe as her void which seemed to lie unnaturally lightly in her hands.

The remaining one was clad in a white shirt that was almost entirely covered underneath a grey two buttoned blazer. His black hair was cut simple and short, being a bit longer in front and becoming shorter at the sides. It looked spikey and slightly messy which stood at a slight contrast to the proper look on his clothes. On his lower body, he wore black pants and expensive looking leader shoes in the matching color. His void was a long machete it's surface giving off a weird caustics-like glowing.

While Shu and Yahiro tried fending off their enemies to buy time for their friends, Inori shot out giant crystals to raze the wall in front of them so that they could escape. The wall collapsed easily after the second hit, but where they had hoped to be blessed by an escape route, they were shocked to see that no one else but Ritsu was already standing on the other side, waiting for them with, yes, her very own lapdogs.

The term suited them, for the brunette girl with the tomboyish hair decided to point her right index finger into their direction with a huge grin on her lips and yelled: "Sic 'em, boys!"

Her "dogs" immediately came to life with that simple command while chuckling evilly. The first one was a foreigner with wild blond hair who actually had the nerve to run around without even a shirt, despite the harsh winter cold all around them. Although he at least wore a set of knee-long shorts on his lower body, making him look like he was about to go to the beach, not walk around Tokyo when it was surrounded in snow. He was well built, being able to call himself a proud owner of a sixpack. On his muscular left arm, a tattoo of a dragon could be seen, which was weird, because it glowed faintly like a void normally did.

The other one of her lapdogs was another foreigner with dark skin and brown dreadlocks which were bound together behind his head. Unlike his partner, he at least had the decency to wear clothes appropriate to both, the eye and the weather. An olive green hoodie was covering his upper body which was partially hidden below his big, greyish-blue bomber jacket while his lower one sported thick, dark wool pants. The most remarkable thing about him was the void necklace hanging around his head. On first impression, you would think it was some kind of accessory native Americans would wear, but on closer inspection its appearance would remind you more of a cheap imitation for tourists than the real deal. Something you would only wear to look cool. A small breeze seemed to surround the void.

The blond one took a deep breath, only to blow it all out in front of him right afterwards. The shocking thing about that trivial action was, however, the fact that out of his mouth, fire actually emerged, and not too little. Jun, who had stood a bit too close, was forced to jump back quickly as to not get scorched.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!" He cried out while stepping back. However, the flames soon died out, since there was nothing for them to burn. The ground was wet from the snow and the remains of the wall next to them was made of stone. Only the vines on it had started burning. It was hardly intimidating, especially since the man who had summoned them was coughing up smoke afterwards for a short while, unable to do it again. Well, at least that explained the lack of clothing. One who could breathe fire, naturally, would never feel cold no matter the temperature.

"These guys are everywhere…" Tsugumi then whined as she looked in front of her and then behind her, where Shu and Yahiro were still trying to hold off their pursuers.

"We are surrounded." Hare reluctantly agreed and turned around to Inori with a worried expression. "What do we do?"

"We need to break through. Stay behind me." The queen decided and stepped in front of them, eying the three enemies in front of her critically. The situation didn't look good. Shu, Yahiro and Inori were now facing an overwhelming amount of enemies with only little support from Tsugumi, Hare and Jun who weren't exactly fighters and, therefore, remained at the center. The younger Samukawa brother took out the pistol he had brought with him and readied himself to provide backup, while Hare was keeping her void ready to heal any injuries as fast as she could. The dark haired hacker put Funezo down and set him into combat mode, hoping the small defensive measures she had built into him were enough to help out somehow.

The blond guy breathed out fire again, aiming directly at the pink haired queen who managed to raise a crystal wall in time to deflect it. However, the guy next to him started moving his hands in small circles which appeared to summon small currents of wind. With them, he added fuel to the fire, making it even bigger and hotter, forcing the queen to step back ever so slightly because of the heat alone, realizing that the temperature correction of Adam didn't protect her well enough against this extreme heat. The crystal itself became bright red, too.

She waited until the flamethrower-guy ran out of breath to make the wall crumble apart and launch its hot pieces directly at him only to see the man with the dreadlocks create a strong gust of wind which threw the pieces off-target. The good thing about it was, that both of them appeared to be exhausted afterwards. The blond one needed to catch his breath while the other one started sweating heavily. Could it be that they had powerful voids, yet were unable to keep them going for long periods of time? A chance!

But when Inori wanted to storm forward to finish them off, she got intercepted by the wimpy guy from before, who had managed to reach her by teleporting all the way out here with the help of short-distance teleportations, always only traveling a few meters in between jumps. Was his void the exact opposite? Weak effect but easy to uphold?

"I am really sorry…it's nothing personal…" He mumbled and took out a jackknife from his pocket, flipping it open and attempting to stab her head on. Her reflexes allowed her to react on time to block the attack with her blades and answer with a counter of her own, but the salary man only flash-stepped behind her to try again. Fast! But not fast enough. Hare anticipated that move and used her void as a whip to slap him away. It didn't do much damage, but threw the attacker off-balance. An opening!

The queen whirled around and lifted her left weapon to attack, only to see a wall of flames push itself between her opponent and herself, forcing her to retreat again. Now the flash-stepper reappeared to her left side, trying to stab her for a third time. Still being off-balance from jumping back in order to avoid the fire, she had no means to avoid the attack this time. She decided to take it. The cold blade found its way deep into her sides, causing quite a bit of pain, but in return, it offered her the opportunity to grab hold of her attacker's arm while he tried to yank the blade back out.

Panic visibly befell him once he noticed the queen's unwavering grip on him. He tried to teleport away, but realized that he could not get away without teleporting her with him. Everything he touched was teleported as well. That's what she had learned when she had seen him take the office woman down from the second floor earlier. As long as she held onto him, there would be no escape for him. Without wasting another second, she held him down with her left hand while ramming her crystal blade straight into his heart with her right one.

"Not…fair…" He coughed out blood and fell to his knees, followed by falling over sideways. His void shoes crystalized and shattered as his life left his body. One enemy down.

Unfortunately, though, the queen did not get time to rest, as the shirtless man sent more flames her way, forcing her to hide behind another wall.

"Above you, your grace!" She suddenly heard Jun's warning and looked up just in time to see Ritsu ride a wind current to launch a surprise attack from above. Inori sidestepped just in time to avoid the high voltage of the enemy's electro-shocker. The younger Samukawa sibling took shots at her, but the aura of wind that surrounded her changed the course of the bullets and made them miss.

Ignoring the bullets completely, Ritsu continued her assault on Inori but was forced to abort when she caught something heading her way from the corner of her eye. It was Funezo's cable attack with which he attempted to trap her and knock her out with the use of electricity, similar to what she was trying to do with Inori. It was to no avail, though, as the brunette Mananite saw through the attack and managed to deflect it with a high kick.

Meanwhile things didn't look very good for Yahiro and Shu. Not long ago, the bitch with the light swords had managed to hit Yahiro's pistol, thus completely destroying it. With the loss of any means of ranged combat, he couldn't keep Nanba and Miyabi away anymore and was forced to face them in close combat with the help of his own void he had received from Shu. He somehow managed to keep up with those two since his void was higher ranked than theirs, but he couldn't do the same with Miyabi's goons. Helplessly he had to watch them run past him and directly at Hare.

"Shu, they are getting through!" He yelled, hoping to catch the king's attention. Said man threw a short glance over his shoulder and saw what his friend meant.

"Damnit!" He cursed as he used the singer's sword to knock the man in football gear back. He hated to admit it, but the armor was quite durable and protected him well from the front. He suspected that it must have been weaker from the back and had tried for a time now to get him there, but his opponent never showed him any openings, and there was also Sudou who kept trying to catch him off-guard with his charged clackers. He kicked the piercings-wearing man in the stomach, followed by planting a fist into his face while he bended over. This gave Shu just enough time to see how the third guy with the giant shuriken attempted to throw it at him.

Before the dangerous void could hurt him, however, he made use of his void arm and took control of it midflight, allowing him to catch it once it came near him and adjusting its path by letting it go again shortly after, fixing its course all while maintaining its previous velocity. It flew directly into the direction of Hare's attackers, hitting the male one in the blazer right in the head, where it kept stuck. He hadn't seen it coming and fell to the ground lifelessly in an instant. However, the other one remained. Shu immediately dashed forward in hope of reaching Hare in time to save her from harm.

"I won't let you" He suddenly heard Sudou shout at him after he had recovered from the punch. He threw his set of electrified clackers at him to use them as bolas. The king was forced to sidestep to avoid the hazard. At the same time, he tried to cut the void with the singer's sword as it passed him, but he wasn't fast enough and missed. The projectile flew past him and ended up hitting Tsugumi, where it immediately wrapped around her legs and started electrifying her.

The dark haired hacker cried out in pain and felt her muscles go numb. Unable to remain standing, she hit the ground where she lost consciousness. Her body didn't move aside from the few spasms of her muscles due to the exposure to too much electricity.

"Tsugumi!" Hare cried out once she had heard the hacker's scream and turned around. That was also when she noticed that the remaining one of Miyabi's agents was currently heading for her. Gasping in shock, she had only enough time to see the female Mananite raise her giant void axe to bring it down on her, threatening to split her in two.

Fortunately for her, that never happened as Funezo tackled the woman, knocking her off balance and giving Hare enough time to make a run for it. The medic's fortune turned out to be the robot's doom, though, as the angered woman merely grabbed the small fellow who had dared intervening and threw him against the ground brutally with the help of her Genesis' strength. Then she raised her axe and smashed it into the poor robot with all her might. His heavily damaged electronics ceased to function on the spot, spewing out only a bit of smoke. The angered woman under Miyabi's command then went back to her previous task, trying to catch the escaping medic.

Inori was getting pretty troubled in the meantime, since she wasn't allowed to go all-out out of danger of hurting her friends in the process, who were fighting too close to her. Ritsu and her underlings continued to relentlessly attack her and while her injury from before had been healed by Hare during the short breather Funezo had provided her with earlier, she was still unable to win ground on them since they worked so well together as a team. Ritsu was their close combat offensive force with the flamethrowing guy covering her from the rear, trying to create openings for his boss by harassing the queen with flames. The wind controller was acting as support, creating wind currents which redirected projectiles launched at his comrades as well as boosting the fire effect of the flame-user.

When she tried to go for the support, the other two would get in her way. When she tried taking out the shirtless one, he would get saved by the wind-user. And when she went for Ritsu, the blond bastard would just intervene. She needed some kind of distraction…

As if reading her mind, the distant sound of an approaching aircraft was soon heard. The fighting slowed down once they saw the giant and heavily armed jet flying them by, followed by slowing down, turning around and readjusting the angle of its turbines so they would face down, enabling it to hover over them threateningly.

"Freeze, terrorists! Use of lethal force has been authorized against you. Anyone who moves WILL be shot!" Came the warning of the pilot from the vehicle's speakers. Everyone stopped moving in fear of getting blasted to shreds. The aircraft was the real deal, having two heavy chain guns and a missile launcher mounted on each one of its wings. Did the SDF upgrade their arsenal?

Inori, for her part, didn't care. While the enemy was hesitating to continue their attack, she would. Launching herself into the air with the help of crystals, she formed heavy boulders in midair, only to fling them all at the fire user at the same time. The guy was shocked and tried defending, but could not get away in time to dodge the projectiles. Once the man with the dreadlocks saw that happening, he tried to help his partner out by pushing him out of the way with another gust of wind, but he was too late. The fire user got crushed brutally under the pressure of several tons worth of crystals before the wind could reach him, his flesh and bones making a horrible sound when they made contact with the fast and heavy crystalline rocks.

The aircraft immediately opened fire on her without further warning, but she was able to resist the hail of bullets by hiding behind a thick crystal wall she erected behind her as soon as she had landed again. Behind cover, she made the huge clumps of crystal she had flung at the now dead enemy shatter into countless smaller ones, followed by shooting them right at the aircraft whose pilot was forced to avoid the returned fire by steering his jet around it. He flew away from the scene but was sure to turn around and come back momentarily. The combatants on the ground used the chance to resume their fighting, hoping to gain an advantage over the other party while they were still spacing out.

Shu was the first to move, going straight for the Mananite with the axe that had chased after Hare. Said woman recovered soon after, taking a firm grip on her weapon and running towards the defenseless girl who was still frozen in place, looking into the direction the dangerous jet had flown away into.

"Hare!" Shu yelled, catching her attention. She only saw how a black stick materialized in his right hand which he pointed into her direction, followed by it shooting out a sphere of dark light. It robbed her off her vision, not realizing that it also did so for her attacker behind her. While they both were temporarily blinded, Shu called back Inori's void and used its ability to create stepping stones in midair to jump over the sphere, timing it just right for him to land between Hare and her attacker when the dark light of Argo's void disappeared. Angry eyes locked onto each other as Shu struck out with Inori's void while his female opponent managed to block the blow by holding her axe sideways with both hands.

The voids started emitting small sparks as they were pressed against each other until Shu dismissed the sword, catching his opponent by surprise. While she was trying to figure out what he was trying to accomplish, she saw him grabbing the axe with both his hands as well, causing them to fight over the void's ownership. Several seconds passed by in which they appeared to be in a complete stalemate before the king eventually managed to trick his adversary by suddenly stopping to pull and deciding to push instead. He hit her in the face with the butt of the axe's grip, followed by using the woman's confusion to do the same with the other end of the grip. She groaned and let go of the weapon, stumbling back and falling on her butt. The king swung the axe once in victory before raising it over his head, planning to bring it down on his foe to end her.

That was, however, before a sword of pure light hit the void with enough force to send it out of his hands and flying away. Surprised, he turned into the direction of where the attack had come from, only to see the office lady from before standing quite a huge distance away from him with arms crossed under her chest, smiling cockily. She then lifted her right hand to wave him good-bye. While the king tilted his head in confusion, trying to figure out the weird woman's body language, he noticed how a barrage of new light blades were forming behind her and at both her sides. His eyes opened up wide once he realized that he was about to be turned into Swiss cheese. The swords were launched his way.

"Get down!" Hare managed to tackle him down just in time to make him avoid severe injuries at the price of getting grazed by some of the blades herself. It was no big deal, however, as she was already healing herself while she was hitting the floor with Shu.

That was also the moment the military jet came back. And this time, the pilot had no intention whatsoever to give any warnings. He would shoot as soon as he was in position, Jun realized. The younger Samukawa sibling looked all around him to see if anyone was able to harm him and realized that he had managed to be in a fairly safe position for the time being. To his right, his queen was still trying to break through the enemy's line of defense, in front of him, his king had just saved Hare and was now getting up to resume battle and to his left, his brother tried his best to keep his enemies at bay. However, he was outnumbered by Nanba and Miyabi, so it was only a matter of time before he would get overwhelmed. What made matters worse, was that Sudou's bunch was closing in on him now that the king had abandoned his post to safe Hare. And then there was the SDF jet as well…

"I have to do something…" He realized with panic. They were about to lose this battle if he couldn't find a way to even the odds. His eyes fell on his right hand which slowly found its way to his chest, unleashing his void.

" _It was useless in the void realm, but maybe…"_ He thought and pulled out a small black device that fit easily in his hand. It was about fist sized and flat, with the majority of its surface being a display and only a few buttons adorning its sides. It reminded him of these old mobile devices he had seen his father use when he had still been small. It had been old technology even back then and certainly wasn't looking any better over fifteen years later.

It wasn't the first time he had seen his void, either. When he had been in the void realm and had seen everyone around him using voids to their advantage, he naturally had tried as well. But instead of granting him a cool sword or laser rifle that could have helped him in a fight, he was instead given…this old-fashioned thing. Of course he hadn't given up on it just like that. He had tried using it excessively, trying to find out what its use might have been…but no matter how much he tried, all the device had ever granted him with was a flashing "no signal" on the void's display. With a heart heavy from disappointment, he had then accepted that he had been one of the losers in the void realm. One of the guys who had missed out on their chance to get a cool and useful void during evolution. He had put it away and decided to be of use in his own way, aiding his queen with his other abilities, refusing to be cast aside as a burden.

But now he was faced with a situation in which his administrative skills and his eloquence would do him only little good. They were in desperate need of a fighter, not a politician. They needed a powerful void.

"Please do something…" He mumbled desperately as he looked at the void's display. Hope started to appear in the young man's eyes when he didn't see the familiar sign for "no signal" flashing up anymore, like it had in the void realm, but a blank screen instead. Did that mean he could use this thing now? He decided to find out by pointing it into the direction of the incoming military aircraft. Words appeared on the display.

"Establish link?" Two buttons appeared under the question. One spelled "Yes", the other one "No". Since these buttons were on the screen, Jun realized that it must have been a touch screen, the predecessor of the holo-screen. He pressed "Yes".

The words on the screen changed into "Establishing Link. Please wait". They were accompanied by an animated picture of a spinning circle. The brunette man was excited to finally see his void actually do something for a change.

"Link successfully established!" The device told him, followed by the words vanishing in favor of a new window which looked like a chat program. The moment Jun had realized that, a speech bubble appeared on the left side of the screen, saying: "Greetings, Jun Samukawa."

He nearly let his void fall to the ground from surprise.

"Who the hell is that?" He asked no one in particular, getting even more surprised when his words appeared on the screen inside a new speech bubble, which pushed the other one up and aligned itself on the right side. This thing had voice recognition?

"I am JF-14, running on HYDRA Ver. 2.3.1 Copyright by Matsumoto Electronics. All rights reserved."

He frowned at that. "Could it be…the jet?" He looked up at the incoming aircraft questioningly.

"Correct."

This simple word caused his eyes starting to gleam from excitement. He was talking to a machine! How awesome was that? You couldn't even do that with todays' technology! So, what should he say…?

"Uh…hi!"

"Greetings, Jun Samukawa."

Hm, they had already been that far. He should continue the conversation.

"How are you doing?"

"Error: Could not process query: 'How are you doing?'. Did you mean: " **What** are you doing?"

He blinked at that a few times. Oh, so the computer on board couldn't answer vague questions? Anyway, he could ponder about that later.

"Yes, I guess."

"Printing most recent log entries:"

_Pilot assist: course correction 10° SW_

_Auto-stabilizing…complete_

_Running face-scan…complete_

_Connecting to database…complete_

_Printing results:_

_Iki Sayuri – DECEASED – ERROR: Data from Database conflicts with target's bio signals. Faulty Scan?_

_Hirohide Nanba – DECEASED – ERROR: Data from Database conflicts with target's bio signals. Faulty Scan?_

_Herikawa Miyabi – DECEASED – ERROR: Data from Database conflicts with target's bio signals. Faulty Scan?_

_Samukawa Yahiro –TARGET CONFIRMED – Locking on_

_Unknown individual 1 – ERROR: Could not scan face_

_Unknown individual 2 – ERROR: No match with database_

_Ouma Shu – TARGET CONFIRMED – Locking on_

_Shoji Tomoe – DECEASED – ERROR: Data from Database conflicts with target's bio signals. Faulty Scan?_

_Unknown corpse 1 – ERROR: Could not scan face_

_Menjou Hare – DECEASED – ERROR: Data from Database conflicts with target's bio signals. Faulty Scan?_

_Sendo Tsugumi – TARGET CONFIRMED – Attention: Target's bio-signals are weak. No threat. Lock-on aborted._

_Unknown individual 3 – ERROR: No match with database – closest match: Samukawa Jun – DECEASED_

_Yuzuriha Inori – DECEASED – ERROR: Data from Database conflicts with target's bio signals. Faulty Scan?_

_Takarada Ritsu – DECEASED – ERROR: Data from Database conflicts with target's bio signals. Faulty Scan?_

_Taketa Satoshi – DECEASED –_

_Unknown individual 4 – ERROR: No match with database_

_Unknown individual 5 – ERROR: No match with database_

_Unlocking primary weaponry…complete_

_Updating target information:_

_Unknown individual 5 – DECEASED –_

_Locking on: Yuzuriha Inori (?)_

_Activating aim assist…complete_

_WARNING: Line of sight to target lost_

_WARNING: Multiple projectiles inbound_

_Course change: 60° SE_

_Auto stabilization…complete_

_Running user query: System check…complete_

_Printing results:_

_Main body: OK_

_Left wing: OK_

_Right wing: OK_

_Rear wing: OK_

_Engine: OK_

_Landing gear: OK_

_Fuel remaining: 83%_

_Pilot assist: turning maneuver 2_

_Auto-stabilization…complete_

_Marking as Targets: Iki Sayuri (?), Hirohide Nanba (?),Herikawa Miyabi (?), Samukawa Yahiro, Unknown individual 1 to 4, Ouma Shu, Shoji Tomoe (?), Menjou Hare (?), Yuzuriha Inori (?), Takarada Ritsu(?)_

Jun stared at the screen of his smartphone-void in utter amazement as he skimmed over the contents of the logs. Everything the jet had done ever since it had arrived here was apparently listed there as far as he could tell. So awesome! He had no time to enjoy playing around with his void, though. He needed to make it help them out somehow.

"Uh, could you please remove my friends from the target list?" He tried suggesting to the computer.

"ERROR: "My friends" not found in targets list."

Ah, that's right. He was talking to a machine here.

"Please remove Samukawa Yahiro, Ouma Shu, Menjou Hare, Yuzuriha Inori and Samukawa Jun from the targets list." As far as he had seen, Tsugumi wasn't listed as a target in the first place due to being unconscious.

"Error: "Samukawa Jun" not found in targets list."

"Huh?" He scrolled up to the logs and scanned them very quick, realizing that he was listed as "unknown individual 3"

"Remove 'unknown individual 3'." He corrected himself.

"Acknowledged. Specified targets removed from targets list."

"Thank you." He sighed in relief. That should help.

"Attention: Last action undone by user." Jun's eyes opened wide from shock as he clutched his void disbelievingly.

"Whyyyy?" He whined. That's when he realized that he wasn't the only one with access to the jet's systems. There was the pilot as well.

"Could you please only listen to me?" The brunette man asked kindly with a pleading smile, subconsciously asking himself why he even did that since the machine couldn't see it anyway, nor would it care.

"Acknowledged. Ejecting pilot."

"WHAT?" He stood and stared as he saw the aircraft's cockpit opening up and launching its pilot out of it. The pilot's seat shot out like a rocket, only to have its built-in parachute open up for him to ensure a safe descend. Jun sort of didn't know what to say. Wasn't that action way over the top considering he had merely asked to stop responding to the pilot's orders?

"…Please tell me you have an autopilot feature…" Jun mumbled into his void with narrowed eyes, still looking at the floating pilot in silent disbelief.

"Affirmative. Switching to autopilot now. Awaiting new directives."

This planted an eager smirk on the young man's face. He got to control his very own fighter jet. How awesome was that?

"Provide backup for big bro- Samukawa Yahiro." He corrected himself midsentence.

"Acknowledged. Engaging hostiles." The jet approached the battlefield and entered a hovering position, followed by turning into the direction of Yahiro. From its left wing's missile launcher, a single missile was dropped, which started coming to life immediately afterwards, setting its course directly at Sudou and his two bodyguards. Guided missiles, heck yeah!

The trio didn't need long to notice the hazardous object closing in on them. Sudou was the first to act, running away into the opposite direction he had been going. The second one was the guy with the football gear, deciding to dive away in last second. The last one with the shuriken void merely stopped dead on his tracks, eying the missile that was closing in with dread. He was so afraid that his legs failed to follow his brain's order to run for it. He received the object head on, exploding into many bloody pieces while the blast of the resulting explosion sent Sudou and the other one flying away. The first was unlucky enough to get thrown against the building behind him with enough force to knock him out cold. The other one, however, merely rolled over the ground a bit, apparently being too heavy to really be sent flying.

"You are kidding me…" Jun's entire body was shaking from an unknown feeling. He wasn't sure if he should call it excitement or fear. He couldn't stop a weird looking grin from appearing on his face as a soft, doubtful chuckle left his lips. "I did that, right?"

Was that guilt or pride he felt? His first kill…did he enjoy or loathe it? He couldn't tell. What he knew, though, was that he liked the feeling of power. It was his very own one. Only he could use it. He could be of use this way. He could join the fight together with his brother, his king and his queen. The time of Jun the voidless was over!

Pointing his right index finger at the enemy, he started yelling proudly. "What are you waiting for, JF-14? There are still targets left. Lay waste to them in the name of my king and queen!"

"Resuming combat." The jet started spinning up its chain guns, when suddenly a barrage of light blades was fired at it from inside the dust cloud caused by the explosion just now. The swords of light flew straight at it and began piercing its hull effortlessly, creating holes in its wings and armor.

"Critical damage sustained. Fuel level falling rapidly. Left aileron unresponsive." The jet's computer reported. Shortly after, Jun saw the aircraft catching fire. The fuel that it was losing immediately ignited and caused the machine to explode, knocking everyone off their feet with its blast. Parts of the burning wreckage started falling down from the sky, causing everyone to cease whatever it had been they had been doing until now to avoid them.

The wind using Mananite with Ritsu used his wind to try redirecting any falling pieces that were heading his or his master's way, Inori shot up crystal spears to do the same for herself, Hare, Tsugumi and Jun. Shu, who had joined Yahiro in battle against Nanba and Miyabi to even out the fight, started destroying falling pieces coming their way with the singer's sword while Yahiro made sure Nanba and Miyabi wouldn't attack him while he was distracted. The rest of the falling pieces were disposed of by the office lady's light swords which she seemed to be able to fire in unlimited supply.

Jun coughed as he got up, feeling like he had swallowed a fistful of dust when he had been tossed to the ground just now. Getting up slowly, he realized that none of his friend had been hurt, which made him sigh in relief. Throwing a glance at his void, he just shook his head in disappointment as he let it go, making it vanish inside his chest again. Well, it was a shame, but he had had his glory, even if it had been a rather short lived one. Now it was back at being a useless burden in battle again. He spotted his gun lying on the ground not far from him. Maybe he could still help out by using it…

As he was about to reach out for it, he saw someone step on it. Startled, he looked up to see Ritsu and her remaining follower standing in front of him. He backed of instantly, instinctively looking into the direction of his friends in hope of receiving some help from them, only to see that everyone was currently facing their own problems.

"What's wrong, Jun? Crying for your queen to save your sorry skin again? I am afraid she is a bit busy right now protecting the other weaklings." She told him with a sinister grin, grabbing him by his collar before he could turn around and run.

"Wait-!" He tried to say something with wide eyes, but the brunette Mananite merely charged her void and rammed it into him with a sweet: "Nighty-night!"

The next thing he knew was that his entire body was thrown into a world of pain with him losing all his control over his muscles as the electric currents chose to run wild inside him. He felt his vision fading into white at the same time the last bit of air had left his lungs during his loud and agonized scream. By the time she had let go of him, he had already lost his consciousness.

When Inori heard the scream, she immediately realized that she had screwed up. In her haste to protect Hare and Tsugumi from the falling debris, she had let Jun out of her eye who now had ended up getting tormented by the enemy. When she saw how Ritsu dropped his body to the ground like a bag of trash, she felt anger rise up inside her. She dashed forward with both her swords, determined to get Yahiro's brother back from them.

"If you want him so badly, you can have him." She heard the deep voice of the man with the deadlocks say behind Ritsu. He raised one finger, causing winds to engulf Jun's unconscious body, making it levitate. Then, with a loud yell, he swung both his arms into Inori's direction to make him fly straight at her.

This surprised Inori. Jun came flying at her with such speed, that she could barely react. If she tried dodging, he would fly past her and possible hit something hard which could end up damaging him lethally. No, she had to catch him, even if it meant damage for her. She made her blades shatter and opened up her arms, bracing herself for the impact which came soon after. He hit her face on, causing her to get knocked back a few meters, where they rolled over the ground for a bit before coming to a halt.

In the meantime, the king and Yahiro were still fighting Nanba and Miyabi, oblivious to the events occurring at their backs. Too much did they have to concentrate on their opponents to keep up with them. Especially Yahiro who was, frankly speaking, exhausted due to his prolonged fight against Genesis. He barely had any strength left in his arms and legs, making him fear that any blow from Nanba might cause him to fall over sooner or later. His opponent didn't seem to lose any stamina at all.

"You are holding up pretty well for a mere human, I will have to give you that." The smug ex-classmate eventually had to admit.

"Hah…this is nothing…I fought plenty of tougher guys on the streets back in the days…" He replied with a cocky grin, though unable to hide how short on breath he actually was. He didn't lie, though. It was probably because of his former drug dealer days that he had been able to keep standing on his feet until now. That and the strength of his void with which he blocked yet another attack of his opponent with a grunt.

"Hoh? Did you use to be a bigger delinquent than I was, perhaps?" Nanba asked with a smirk. "I never knew. Otherwise I would have tried making friends with you…"

"I prefer my current friends, so no, thank you." Yahiro heard him sigh.

"Even though they are all such losers. What a shame."

"Calling Adam and Eve losers…you must know some impressive persons, I guess."

"Oh please…Adam and Eve are nothing but playthings to Da'ath."

Their little exchange of words was interrupted by the loud noise of something hitting the ground, hard. They allowed themselves to take a look to their side where they saw the king holding Miyabi by her throat with his left hand, having just pinned her to the ground with enough force to let cracks appear on the concrete ground. In his other hand he held Inori's sword, threatening her to stab her with it.

"I liked you more when you used to admire me." Shu told her with scorn, ignoring the pearls of sweat that travelled down his forehead.

She only smirked at him defiantly. "I was a foolish girl back then. I guess I fell in love with your cold eyes. They still are the best thing about you, even now."

"And the only good thing about _you_ is still only your void." He retorted to her, gaze shifting to the void scythe resting on the ground next to them. It had landed there after he had managed to disarm her. There was no need to lie, it was a good void. He had enjoyed using it back in his days as student council president. Unfortunately, the praise could not be applied to the person it belonged to. Miyabi was rotten and selfish in the same way Nanba was, just maybe not quite as ambitious as him, being fine with remaining under his lead instead of seizing it for herself.

"Your words are as cold as your eyes. That's quite dangerous. I might fall for you again." She told him, still smirking. He frowned at her. What's wrong with this girl? Maybe she liked getting treated like shit?

"Disgusting…" The king muttered and began strangling her. No need to defile Inori's beautiful void with the tainted blood of this nutcase. No need to spare her, either. Filthy Da'ath scum…he would show her. Nanba growled angrily as he saw Miyabi struggle against the king's fierce grip. This was definitely looking bad. He needed to overwhelm Yahiro quickly and save his underling before it became two against one. He would die then!

It appeared as if Fortuna was with him, though. Out of nowhere, Sudou's football player underling came running at them after having recovered from the missile attack without even a scratch. He charged at Yahiro, breathing heavily and loudly. When the brunette strategist turned around in surprise, he didn't even have time to brace for impact before the frontal tackle hit him with the force of a freight train.

"Guh!" From one minute to the next, Yahiro felt himself being knocked off his feet with every molecule of air being pressed out of his lungs. He could have sworn he saw droplets of his own salvia leave his mouth before he hit the ground brutally with that manchild crashing on top of him. If his rips hadn't been broken from the initial collision, they sure as hell broke then.

" _A Genesis' strength…is scary…"_ Were his last thoughts before he blacked out, eyes rolled back so that only the whites could still be seen. His face was twisted from pain and a trail of salvia ran down his still open mouth as he just lied there, out cold.

"Yahiro?" Shu exclaimed in surprise. That little moment of inattentiveness he offered was enough for Nanba to punch him in the face, knocking him off Miyabi. While he recovered from the punch, he slowly got up with sword in hand. At first he threw an angry glare at Nanba who was now helping the heavy coughing Miyabi up. That was followed by offering a worried glance at his fallen friend who had been knocked out in one clean hit. But then he turned around and got _really_ shocked when he saw everyone down on the ground with Hare kneeling over his queen and Ritsu slowly approaching them with her follower trailing behind her. What was this madness? They? Defeated? This couldn't be! No, it wasn't over! Not as long as he still stood.

He started clenching the sword inside his right hand fiercely and gritted his teeth in absolute rage.

"You will pay for this…" For hurting Inori…fur hurting his friends…he wouldn't forgive them even if they begged him to!

With a furious battle cry he charged forward, intending to cut down everyone in his path.

The intention had been there, it really had, however, intention alone wasn't enough. Of course there was also rage, but neither of that was able to protect him from the void arrow that came flying down from the roof of the old research institute. It hit him right in the chest, dissolving into many crystalline vines which wrapped themselves around him, binding him. And as much as he tried to break free, he had to make the unfavorable realization that he couldn't.

From the roof then came a swirling mass of silver threads which combined themselves to form the infamous envoy of Da'ath in all his glory. The two twins appeared right next to him in one of their power surging portals.

"Sorry for entering the battle only this late. I kind of had to fight off the SDF forces as they tried to reach this place. I missed one jet, I think, but the twins told me it was hardly a trouble." He said nonchalantly and shrugged. It appeared as if he was more talking to his allies than Shu, which further enraged the king.

"You damn bastard! Release me!" He demanded. Yuu only sighed as if annoyed by a child's pesky cry for attention.

"Yes, yes, Adam. All in its due time. Why don't you take a little nap first?"

"Allow me…" Miyabi offered him her services with a cold and serious expression. She walked over to the captured king and hit the back of his head with the butt of her void scythe. The hit was hard enough to send the defenseless man right into a world of blackness.

"Good work." The envoy complimented her with a satisfied smile and looked into the direction the queen was at. "Now let's collect our prize and let's go."

Said queen was still lying on the ground where she had landed earlier. She groaned as she tried to get up but found herself unable to. Her limbs felt heavy and Jun's body on top of her appeared to crush her, making even breathing a hard thing to do. The blurry image of two Hares appeared in front of her eyes. Two? She blinked a few times but the amount of Hares did not decrease. They spun around her as the kind girl tried talking to her. The words…she didn't quite hear them over the ringing of her ears, but she could guess what she was trying to say. It must have been something like "Are you okay?" and "Please get up!". Yes, she could imagine Hare to say that. It was so very much like was also something warm that could be felt on her forehead. She tried inspecting it once a bit of her strength returned. A red liquid was spread on her fingers after she had touched the substance. Blood? Did she hit her head? She did not exactly feel much pain. She wondered if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Hang in there, Inori! I am gonna heal you!" Hare said worriedly and let her void wrap itself around her and Jun simultaneously. For a short moment, she felt the gentle and warm feeling of Hare's healing enter her body. It was rather short lived, however, as it ceased to be the moment she saw someone grab the medic from behind, dragging her away from her despite the brunette woman's heavy protests.

"Let go of me, damnit! I need to heal them! I said let go! Inori!" Her voice grew faint as she got dragged away more and more by Ritsu's lapdog. She heard footsteps from a lot of people approaching her. Shortly after, Yahiro's unconscious body was dumped next to her, followed by Tsugumi's and Shu's. The queen's heart skipped a beat when she saw Shu's unmoving face next to hers, but soon realized with relief that she still received his feelings, meaning that he was still alive. Same must have applied to her friends.

"Is that all of them?" Yuu wanted to know. He and his allies gathered around the pile of bodies with Inori at its center. The twins were currently missing, but that was fine.

"Yeah. Six guys in total. They were quite a pain to beat, too… well, Inori was at least." Ritsu replied while scratching the back of her head with slight annoyance in her voice, causing the envoy to chuckle at her.

"Surely it would have been even more of a pain if Eve had gotten serious."

"Coming here with only two servants each turned out to be quite dangerous, considering how many of them we lost…" Nanba muttered with folded arms.

"At least you have still one left alive…" Miyabi sighed in frustration, eying the female underling of his he had brought with him from loop seven.

"Ah, your axe wielding barbarian of a woman is alive, too. She is just taking a nap on the ground over there." The office lady in question stated as she pointed towards said fallen warrior with a disinterested expression. The leader of the Crimson Scythe only grumbled in response.

"Useless fool. I will have to demote her."

"Speaking of surviving people. It looks like our old pal Sudou survived as well." Nanba proclaimed with a huge grin once he saw the bulky man with the football gear carry his unconscious leader over his shoulder.

"Idiots are hard to kill after all…" Was all Yuu could say in response to that as he shrugged, not really seeming to care either way.

The twins then finally rejoined the group.

"We sent off the noisy one." The left one said, probably referring to Hare.

"And the one with the axe." The right one said, probably referring to the one who had tried to kill Hare.

"Well done, little ones. Now do the same with these guys, will you?" Yuu praised them with a smile and pointed at the queen and her friends afterwards.

The young girls nodded and proceeded to put their gloved hands on each of Inori's friends, who vanished into a whirl of energy soon after. Jun was the first one Inori saw vanishing, then his brother and Tsugumi. Lastly even her king.

"Shu…" She whispered weakly as she watched the spot she had just seen him lie on a mere second ago. Not a single trace was left of him.

"There is no need for concern, Eve." The envoy said with a huge grin as soon as he had noticed her whimper. "You and your friends are in good hands now."

When one of the twins' voids touched her following his words, the next thing she knew was that her whole body felt as if it had been torn to shreds…its various pieces sucked into a whirling vortex of energy. What came afterwards? She couldn't even tell. By the time her body had been reconstructed again at a new location, her exhausted and wounded body had long since ceased to keep her mind awake.

The only thing she vaguely noticed thanks to a feeling deep down in her heart was that Shu was still alive and that was enough for her right now.

Hope was not yet lost, though despair was also already looming over them.

They had fallen. Now only fate knew what were to happen to them.

* * *


	22. Ascension (Checkmate II)

* * *

**22\. Ascension (Checkmate II)**

Darkness.

Cold darkness.

That's what the king felt when he began coming back to his senses.

He hadn't been alone. He knew, _felt_ the presence of others. What he didn't know was their numbers, or their identities. Friends? Foes? He couldn't tell.

The floor on which he was lying was rough and cold. The air around him wasn't any warmer and bore the faint scent of gasoline, further increasing his desire to know where the hell he had been. If only he could open his eyes to look…

They remained shut, however, their eyelids feeling as heavy as if they had been formed out of concrete. A pained grunt escaped his lips as he tried moving the other parts of his body. To no avail. They wouldn't budge, either.

Just what the hell happened? He remembered being with Inori in that room in that abandoned hospital. She had said they had been found out. An attack followed. They had run, then got surrounded. A fight. An explosion. More fighting. And finally…

His eyes shot open.

"Inori!" He gasped and tried getting up, only to fall over again, feeling dizzy. Two kind hands caught him, prevented him from falling over. He looked up to see Hare staring at him worriedly. He also saw sadness and a bit of fear gleaming in that look of hers. That's when he also realized that she was using her void on him, letting it dance around him to engulf him in that gentle and warm light he had gotten so familiar with recently. So that's why his limbs had lost their heaviness.

He then took a look around them, realizing that they were inside an underground car park. To his left lied the still unconscious bodies of Jun and Tsugumi with their hands tied behind their backs. To his right, Yahiro kneeled, being restricted in a similar way, glaring at something or someone in front of him. Following his line of sight, he noticed that he was staring at Nanba, who was standing a few meters away from them with a bored expression.

On closer inspection, they were surrounded by their enemies. Nanba, Ritsu, Miyabi, Sudou, their underlings…they all stood in a circle around them. And directly in front of Shu, casually sitting on the back of a car as if it were a throne, was the worst one of all of them. Yuu, the envoy of Da'ath.

In a sitting position slightly below him, Inori rested, leaning against the car with closed eyes and while letting her head hang. She obviously was still unconscious as well. To her left and right, the twins rested, eyes closed, too. Though unlike the queen, it was apparent from their quiet snoring, that they were merely sleeping peacefully instead of being unconscious.

"Inori!" Shu cried out again as soon as he saw her, but earned no response from her. When he tried getting up, he was interrupted by a giant axe that was suddenly swung directly in front of him, blocking his way. He looked up at its wielder, seeing the hateful eyes of the blonde woman from before looking down at him. Two ugly bruises were present on her face, courtesy of the king during their little struggle earlier.

She didn't appear all that thankful for receiving these, which was why she only pushed him back into a kneeling position and told him to remain there with a harsh voice.

Both, Hare and Shu eyed her angrily but realized that they had no choice but to accept their situation as hostages for now. At least they let the medic heal her friends…

As if reminded of this, Hare then removed her void from Shu and proceeded to do the same with Jun who lied on the ground next to him.

"I see, you are finally awake, Adam." Everyone's attention shifted to the envoy who had just addressed Shu while letting his head rest against his hand, looking a bit tired from waiting.

"If you wanted me awake, you shouldn't have knocked me out in the first place!" The king grumbled angrily to which Yuu could only shrug in response.

"But then you would not have listened at all to what I had to say to you, angry as you were. Have you calmed down a bit now?"

"I wouldn't count on it…"

"Fair enough, I suppose." He massaged the back of his neck tiredly as if telling him: "What a pain…"

"So, what do you want?" Shu got to the point. The envoy had kept him and his friends alive. Knowing Da'ath, there must have been a reason for it.

"Cutting right to the chase, hm? And here I thought I would let us engage in a bit of smalltalk first." Yuu said amusedly and smiled. Someone was enjoying his higher position right now, it seemed.

"I think I'll pass, thank you…" The king merely replied with an evil glare.

"As you wish." A soft chuckle escaped the envoy's lips as he waved the matter off with closed eyes. Shortly after, he opened them again and a mischievous grin appeared on his lips.

"As you might have already realized, it's been almost a week since I left Eve in your care. Am I right to assume that it should have been plenty of time for you two to get accustomed to your new situation?"

Shu couldn't help but laugh at that sarcastically. "You are kidding, right? It's one problem after the other. If it's not you guys, then it's the SDF and when it's not any of you, then the Undertakers are throwing a fit. Who could ever get used to this kind of shit?" The brunette man explained angrily to which Yuu responded almost sympathetic.

"Is that so…? I am sorry to hear that, Adam." The king saw him slowly shaking his head. "I wouldn't really mind giving you a few more days to sort things out, but unfortunately, Da'ath is growing impatient. They wish to know if you intend to bring the apocalypse or not, and if so, when."

"How about never?" Shu told him with gritted teeth. "Or do you prefer 'not in your lifetime'?"

"Why is that?" Yuu decided to ask him with curiosity in his voice. "Was this not the Eve you preferred?" He pointed at Inori.

"Of course she is!" Nanba groaned at the sheer volume of his shout which needlessly echoed through the large room, but didn't say anything afterwards.

"Then why?" The envoy wanted to know as he chose to ignore Nanba's little whine. "If there is a problem, maybe I can be of assistance?"

"Don't you get it?" Shu grinned at him defiantly before taking a deep breath and shouting right at him: " _You_ are the fucking problem! You and the rest of Da'ath! Bring the apocalypse for you guys? After all the pain you have caused us? Don't screw with us!"

"Enough with the shouting already! Jesus!" Sudou yelled as he put both hands over his ears. Having increased senses had its downsides, it seemed.

Yuu for his part remained calm, watching Shu for a short while in silence, as if thinking about something. Then he closed his eyes and sighed in disappointment.

"I see. It can't be helped if you feel that way…" He shoved his left hand into the pocket of his white coat, only to retrieve two rings from it, putting them into his right hand. They were darkish-grey but had a really pretty violet sheen to them. Shu had the weird feeling he had seen these rings before, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. The envoy proceeded to put one of them on his left ring finger, followed by doing the same to Inori's left hand.

"What are you doing?" The king demanded to know. Yuu only turned around to him with a smirk once he was done.

"Say, Adam. Do you remember these rings by any chance?" His question earned him a questioning frown from the brunette man in return.

"I feel like I do. What of it? What is their purpose?" He then asked worriedly. This couldn't be good.

"Come on, Adam. You barely even tried recalling them. I already told you once, back when Shuichiru Keido first created them. Well, does that ring any bells?" The envoy took a seat on his "throne" again, eying his conversation partner amusedly once he saw his expression darken right away.

Keido's name had fallen and the king had immediately realized that this meant bad news. His step uncle might have admitted his wrongdoings and had chosen the path of redemption, but that didn't mean that he had always been on it. No, for someone to walk that path, he had first had to do something bad…and the man who was called Shuichiro Keido? He had done plenty of bad things. If his name came up with an incident in the past, then it was almost guaranteed to have been a horrible one. He gulped. These rings were definitely going to turn out to be trouble…

He started to go back to his memories from far back, searching for anything that could have been of relevance. Rings, Keido,…there were two, so were they for a wedding? Keido wasn't married, though...

His eyes opened up wide once he started to recall more…back during the second coming of Lost Christmas…hadn't Keido tried to "propose" to Mana through Inori? He had used rings then as well…don't tell him…

"It can't be…these must be fake!" Shu then gasped in utter disbelief. After Keido had failed, the whole place had collapsed into itself…there was no way these rings could have made it out of there. It was impossible!

But Yuu only chuckled. "Unfortunately not. I didn't sit around all day back when you gathered all these voids in your kingdom of loop seven, you know? I went through a lot of trouble to find them, but it sure was worth it. They are incredibly useful, after all. Do you remember how exactly?"

Shu's hands started to shake, so he was forced to clench them into fists and put them on his knees while he was looking down in shock. He had recalled the words the envoy had used to describe these little objects with.

"….even the selfish Eve can be controlled if you use the stone…" He muttered out the words given to him in the past and started looking up at the envoy again as realization over their meaning reached him at the same time they had left his lips. No…this couldn't be. But when he saw the smirk on Yuu's face widen, he immediately knew that it was all true. Despair befell him, robbing him off all the color in his face.

"Indeed." The envoy said with a satisfied nod. "The rings forged of the stone that was the origin of Eve. If you used them, not even Eve will be able to fight you. I will use them to take her back with me, you know?"

"You….You can't!" Shu yelled in absolute denial. This couldn't be happening. This was a joke! A cruel joke! After having come so far together, he would lose Inori to this cursed man in the end? Just like that?

"That's where you are wrong, Adam." The envoy then replied with a serious expression. "Yuzuriha Inori was conceived by two Da'ath test subjects, born in a Da'ath facility and raised using Da'ath's resources. As you can see, from the moment she came to life, no…even before that, she had been property of Da'ath. We had been willing to give her to you, provided you would bring the apocalypse with her in return. But when you have announced your absolute refusal just now, you have pretty much forced my hand. With this, I will be reclaiming her. You are free to get her back whenever you decide to accept our terms." He got up with a disappointed sigh and turned towards Inori to wake her.

"No way…" Jun's silent muttering was heard among the group. He had finally awoken. Hare was now working on Tsugumi.

"Aren't you going a bit too far, Yuu?" Came the unexpected voice of a female neither of Shu's group had really noticed so far. She had been standing in the back rows, observing the scene silently, only to step up now, holding her hands in front of her shyly. She had kind, dark hazel eyes and long hair in a similar color which was combed neatly to one side. One would have easily disregarded her as a lesser underling since she was wearing the white Da'ath uniform, minus the mirrored glasses which usually robbed their members of every bit of personality they would normally have been able to express. This one, however, seemed to be a middle way. A clear Da'ath grunt who still retained most of her personality, either by being still new to them or by having too much of a character to let everything be washed away by the shady organization. Probably the latter, given the fact that she had been brave enough to address the envoy directly.

If he was offended by her bluntness, he didn't show it. Patiently he turned his head her way and asked: "What makes you say that?"

"When you have asked for my assistance in locating Shu, you had said you would do so in order to make him join Da'ath as well. I was eager to help because of that. Did you lie?" The woman sounded saddened by the mere thought. Shu couldn't help but frown at the way this Da'ath chick dared to casually call him by his name as if they actually knew each other. There was also something with her voice which just put him off. Here he was, feeling calm and collected when he heard it, even though it came from his enemy! Why was that? Did the voice remind him of someone he knew?

"Of course not. I still have every intention of bringing him in. But you heard him. He has no desire to join us. And if it's like this, I cannot let him have Eve any longer." Yuu tried to explain to her calmly with a helpless shrug.

"I know that convincing him is important, but…this is too cruel. He loves her. In all the time I have known him, I have never seen him as happy as he was when I saw them together yesterday…to take that away from him…it's just too much."

Yahiro looked over at the king with a slightly confused look on his face. Nudging his head into the girl's direction, he asked: "Who's that, Shu?"

The king could only shake his head in puzzlement. "No clue. Never saw her before."

Noticing their whispering, the mystery woman turned towards them, offering especially Shu a bright and kind smile.

"Well, that _is_ true. You never saw my face before. You couldn't after all, Shu. But I usually saw you around once or twice a week. Always buying the same stuff at the same store."

The two men frowned at that. The strategist narrowed his eyes at the king in slight disbelief.

"What's with you and chicks, man? There are so many weird women around you, seriously." This one sounded like a crazy stalker.

"Shut up, I am trying to find out where I heard that voice before…" He hissed back at him. This seriously drove him nuts. He felt so close to figuring out who she was. It was basically on the tip of his tongue…

That's when they saw her giving them a small bow with closed eyes.

"Thank you for your purchase at Kanzaki's. Please come again."

Something inside Shu's head clicked as soon as he had heard those words. The voice that had always greeted him kindly no matter how bad his mood had been. That sweet, innocent girl who had always struck up a conversation with him even if he himself had often wished to just be left alone in that world of darkness that had surrounded him. How weird it was to finally have a face to put together with the voice…although his mental image of her hadn't diverted much from her actual appearance, it still felt somewhat surreal to finally see her in person.

"H-Harune…?"

Him calling her by her name made her giggle happily for some reason.

"For Adam of the apocalypse to remember this mere shop clerk. I am happy. I was afraid you might have forgotten me already."

The king only looked at her in complete bewilderment. "You…you were with Da'ath?"

A layer of guilt was added on top of her gentle smile as she put her hands behind her back and tilted her head slightly. "It would appear that way."

"I can't believe this…" Slowly, his shock transformed into anger. "All this time…without even noticing…" He looked down in shame and regret. That's when the former shop clerk raised her arms to hold them in front of her and wave them around nervously in denial.

"Ah, no, no no. Don't get the wrong idea. I only joined a few days after the return of the virus, so there is no need to blame yourself."

Her words seemed to bring a bit of relief to Shu. "I see…so you were forced?" He deduced. She immediately shook her head with a shocked expression.

"Why would you think that?"

The king only threw an angry glare Yuu's way who received it without the slightest care in the world.

"Because that's how Da'ath just is. A bunch of selfish, greedy scumbags who will not sooner rest until they have you under their control…they are the absolute evil."

She frowned at him, a bit of anger present in her eyes. "That's where you are wrong, Shu. There isn't a thing such as good and evil in this world. Everything is subjective…what is evil in one's eyes may be good in another's."

"Oh, I am sorry, is that supposed to make me like them now?" The king asked with gritted teeth, not believing that he was even having this conversation right now.

"No…" She shook her head slowly. "But it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more open minded about it. If it weren't for Yuu, I would be dead right now, you know?"

The brunette king was taken aback by these words for a second, but could still not help but give her a bitter reply: "I am sorry to hear that, but knowing Da'ath, it was staged anyway. They probably have a use for you, is all. It's likely the only reason my friends and I are still alive, too."

"Does that make their action any less good? Motives or not, they still saved me." The former shop clerk argued back.

"Do you even have any idea what they are trying to do?" They heard Hare ask bitterly after she had finished healing up Tsugumi. She wanted to do Inori next, but couldn't since the Mananites wouldn't let her reach the queen, which probably further added to the sour mood of the medic.

"Evolution through apocalypse, I was told." She replied honestly, not minding the tone.

"And you are fine with that?" Jun wanted to know next as he asked her in disbelief. "Aren't you a human?"

"I am aware that I might die, but I am simply done with continuing to live like this. Apocalypse after apocalypse…isn't this already the fifth one? How many times do we have to pick up the pieces and rebuild our lives anew?" They saw her shaking her head depressively, honestly giving them the impression of being tired of it all. With a downcast gaze she continued:

"When I was saved by Yuu, I didn't even know if I wanted to be saved anymore. Everything my father and I had worked so hard for was lost again, just like the time the original Lost Christmas happened. That's when he had told me about the apocalypse. How Adam would be the one to make it all stop. And when I learned that Shu was said Adam, I immediately lost all doubts that the new world he would bring would be a better one. It became my new hope. I wanted to see it, so I decided to join Da'ath, thinking that Shu would feel the same way." A sad smile appeared on her lips. "It appears I was wrong."

"It's not like I can't relate to your feelings, but…joining Da'ath was still a mistake." Hare eventually told her with a look equally mixed with sympathy and disapproval.

"And why is that?" Yuu then decided to butt in with a chuckle, already pleased that he had brought the former shop clerk here with him. He could tell that her words were entirely more effective to the ears of the other party than his own were. She could end up creating the openings he needed. Continuing his offense with a shrug, he said:

"Have any of you even tried hearing Da'ath out? Considered what they could offer you for your cooperation?"

"There is no need. We already know it will be a bad deal for us." Tsugumi merely grumbled with narrowed eyes, annoyance clearly visible in her eyes.

"How would you know that?" The envoy asked with an amused chuckle. "Isn't your refusal to even listen to what I have to say any better than the treatment the SDF gives you? Aren't they antagonizing you without knowing anything as well?"

"A weak comparison…" Yahiro merely argued with a defiant shake of the head. "Considering it was you who sicced them on us in the first place."

They saw the envoy scratch the back of his head uncomfortably as he answered: "Well, I can neither deny nor confirm these claims of yours. I did not have a direct hand in it as much as Miss Kuhouin had. And since she _is_ part of Da'ath, you could say Da'ath really indirectly caused such an outcome. Still, it doesn't change the problem of you antagonizing us before you have even heard me out."

The king could only offer him a scornful laugh. "We already know what you want, after all. What is there to talk about? I will have no part in your schemes…"

"I don't understand, Shu…" He heard Harune say to him with a lowered gaze. "Why are you so opposed to this? You could ease so much suffering with just one simple action alone."

Tsugumi's expression became really angry once she had heard her talk. "Killing billions of people is not called easing of suffering." But Harune didn't seem to mind her anger at all. Folding her arms calmly, she replied:

"Yet the remaining billions of people would become immune to the virus. No more lock downs, no more death. Living could become enjoyable again, and besides…why do you all even care? Around two people die each second worldwide. Do you care about them? Why is it okay to be apathetic about them, yet it is horrible to see a lot of strangers die all at once? Would something change? They are still strangers to you." Tsugumi found herself at a lack of words once she saw the logic in the brunette woman's words. When she looked down, biting her lip, it was the king who replied to her, looking down to let his eyes be hidden behind his brown hair.

"You are right, I really don't care whether half of humanity dies or not. I am sick of even pretending anymore. As you have said, they are nobodies, nothing to me, hence I actually wouldn't mind if an apocalypse would force them to play the lottery of evolution…that's not the issue I have with this whole mess."

His friends stared at him worriedly when he suddenly looked up with a glare radiating with defiance, eying Harune harshly.

"You would never understand the _real_ problem that lies with bringing the apocalypse, Harune, which is the simple fact that Inori and I would become nothing more but puppets to Da'ath, dancing on the palm of their hand forever. We might become king and queen. We might even think we would rule the world. But as long as Da'ath exists…as long as we accept them to be part of our world… _they_ would be the ones who would actually rule in secret. Somehow, they would always find a way to make us act just how it would suit them best. And I refuse to let that happen. Whether we bring the apocalypse or not, I wish for Inori and myself to be free and live the way we want to, not how others want us to. _That_ 's why I will never join Da'ath, no matter what they promise me or Inori. And if you had even the _slightest_ clue what we had to go through because of them, you wouldn't want to, either."

Yet, despite his cold words, she only eyed him with sympathy as she said: "Even if they take Inori away from you?"

That was all it took to make a clump appear in his throat, rendering him unable to say any more. He took a helpless look at Inori's left hand where he saw the meteorite's ring adorn her ring finger. An accessory it was supposed to portray, yet all Shu could see were shackles that bound her to the will of the envoy. Doubts rose up inside his heart. If he would stay adamant here, Yuu would undoubtedly take her with him. What would happen to her? Would he ever see her again? Could he save her from their clutches without relying on Da'ath, or would he ultimately be forced to bow to them, facing enslavement alongside his queen? He didn't know. And as uncertainty was about to take a firm grip of his heart, he noticed Inori's eyes opening slightly.

The first thing the queen did once her senses gradually returned to her, was touching her aching head with a slight wince. The pain was far from being unbearable, yet it had come suddenly, catching her slightly by surprise. She then remembered that she had been wounded there before and realized that she must have fallen unconscious shortly after. As unpleasant as the pain was, it had the welcomed side effect of jumpstarting her body from one moment to the next. Her heart rate accelerated immediately and the heaviness in her limps disappeared as well. As her body entered an alarmed state, all her senses got sharp and so she found herself on her legs shortly after.

There she saw the situation. Her friends, her king…hostages to their enemies. A rather grim turn of events.

"…what's going on here…?" She demanded to know.

"Ah, Eve, you have finally awakened. We were currently discussing whether your chosen Adam would be coming with us to bring the apocalypse or stay behind. Will you perhaps try saying a few words to make him see reason?" The envoy said as soon as he saw her rise. She eyed him with hatred.

"I will go nowhere. There will be no apocalypse." She made clear that these points were not up to debate by glaring at him fiercely. That's when the envoy chose to chuckle amusedly, followed by positioning his left hand in a way to make her notice the ring he was currently wearing. He had to hold back his laughter when he saw her freeze out of shock instantly.

Her gaze went down to her own hands, where she spotted the object's pendant, glowing faintly at her left hand. Once she saw it, she couldn't help but take a few steps back, shaking her head in disbelief.

"No…! When did you…" Everyone heard her mutter. Her expression changed from one second to the next, letting shock disappear from her eyes in favor of desperation. A crystalline blade appeared in her right hand only to be swung at her left wrist without the slightest bit of hesitation. Everyone just watched in shock as they witnessed her attempting to cut off her own hand. Was wearing that ring really that bad? The answer to that question would soon follow as Yuu merely said:

"Stop, Eve." His bored words, indeed, caused Inori to halt immediately, freezing her in position the very next moment they had left his mouth.

"Lower your weapon." He demanded next. The queen resisted, her mind yelling, demanding her muscles to comply. Yet they disobeyed her own commands and chose to follow the envoy's instead. While shaking heavily, her hand moved away from her left wrist and lowered itself to her right side. She could do nothing but watch it do that all on its own. Everyone else aside from Yuu had watched that in disbelief as well. But while Nanba and the rest started grinning in victory, Shu and the gang could only stare in utter shock. Eve, the strongest being in the world…was powerless to disobey the envoy.

She fell to her knees, having lost the strength in her legs to stand. This could not be happening. It was not allowed to happen! The freedom she had at long last gained after separating form Mana. The right to be in full control over her own actions again…revoked! By merely putting on this small piece of meteorite, she had become a prisoner in her own body again. She felt like crying.

Yuu couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.

"And here I thought having a new Eve would make things easier. We appear to still have a lot of work to do…come, Eve. We are leaving."

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she tried again to resist the order. But her legs suddenly moved on their own…forcing her to stand up and slowly walk over to the cursed envoy.

"Why?…why must I do what you tell me to…? Why must these rings exist…? I…I…" They could hear Inori say as she tried to struggle, but to no avail. The frustration inside her accumulated so much that she yelled loudly in such a way none of them had ever heard her do before. The volume was so high that you would have never imagined it coming from the normally so calm woman. The agony Shu could hear in her voice nearly drove him mad. He stood up, not even caring that the axe woman was swinging her void at him.

"Didn't I tell you to stay down?" She yelled at him. He merely caught the axe's blade in his void hand, clutching it so hard, that she couldn't yank it out of his grip.

"Yahiro…" The strategist who kneeled next to him could suddenly hear his name being said by him.

"You wanted to know beforehand if I am going to do something reckless, right? Well, I am afraid I am about to do just that…" His grip on the woman's void became stronger, making first cracks appear on it. His cold expression didn't change and neither did he let go of it. No, he clutched it even harder.

"St-stop…you are breaking it!" His assaulter now realized in shock and tried to make him let go. To no avail.

"I don't care…" The purplish lines on his void arm started glowing and more cracks appeared. Then, finally, the void broke apart, making the woman fall to her knees in pain. Her horrible screams echoed all around them as she slowly turned into crystals with the king only watching her withering away without even batting an eye. Nanba and the rest readied their voids at the same time he summoned the singer's sword into his hand.

"Next." Was all he said as he eyed them threateningly, making a gesture for them to try him. They? Taking away his queen? He would show them.

"Wait, Shu! You can't do this! You will never win!" Yahiro tried to warn him, but the king made no intention of backing away.

"I am not letting them have Inori…" His face was now a scary grimace of hatred and rage, looking down slightly, he continued: "Even if I…" He didn't seem to bring himself to say the rest.

"Shu!" Inori's voice suddenly brought him out of his dark thoughts. He looked over at her, now standing slightly behind the envoy who was controlling her. He was slightly surprised to see a very disapproving look on her face. Was she angry? Well, of course she was…he himself was quite furious…but she looked as if she was angry at him.

"You promised…!" His eyes widened at that. He…he had, hadn't he? That he would absolutely not die. It didn't matter how little he cared for his life right now, he had to value the promise he gave her…more anger rose inside him as he realized he was unable to act on the feelings that swelled up inside him, threatening to burst right out of him.

"You promised as well, didn't you? To never leave me." He yelled in frustration. "If you break yours, why can't I break mine?"

"It's not like I _want_ to!" She yelled back, now with tears streaming out of her eyes, still looking angry at him. It was the first time they had ever yelled at each other. Her words as well as the sight of her tears made him look down in shame. What the hell was he even saying? Of course it wasn't her fault. Neither of them really wanted to leave the other. It was Yuu who made her do it. He had known all along and still let his anger out on her, made her cry. He felt like shit for doing that.

He looked around him. Nanba, Sudou, Miyabi, Ritsu, football-guy, office lady and Ritsu's goon were surrounding him with their voids held ready to attack. That alone would already be a tough fight, but the envoy was there as well. He knew even without thinking that he would never win. Yuu alone would already be a tough opponent, let alone fighting him with additional opponents to back him up. If Shu would fight, he would die. He couldn't do it. He couldn't break his promise. Reluctantly he lowered his sword, making Inori sigh in relief.

"That reminds me, Adam. That void you currently hold. Return it." Yuu demanded. Shu nearly felt his heart stop beating. He couldn't possibly have told him to release Inori's void, right? That was impossible. It had always been his to use. Even Inori had said so…

"You can't do that!" Inori objected heavily as she looked at the envoy in complete refusal. "I gave it to him to hold. I won't allow anyone else to use it!" She insisted.

Yuu shrugged at that. "If you don't want me to use it, then I won't. However, I will still have him give it back to you. I said I would take you with me, that means _all_ of you, including your void." He turned back to Shu impatiently, offering him an asking gesture with his right hand..

"Now, if you would, Adam."

Said man froze. It was as if every muscle, every molecule that made up his body simply refused to even imagine going along with this. Inori's void…it was her heart, her soul. When he held it, he felt strong, invincible even. Whenever he swung it, it meant he swung it with his queen's blessing. She had given it to him because she had trusted him with guarding her soul, her existence. However he would decide to use it, she would approve of it. With her void resting inside his void arm, he felt that a part of her was always with him. That he could achieve everything he had set for his goals.

If he were to give it away…it was as if he would be giving her away, completely. He didn't want that, obviously. Growing irritated, Nanba decided to walk up to him.

"You heard the man, Ouma. Let go of that thing. It's yours no more."

Retracting the claws of his void, he then proceeded to ram it deep into the king's stomach, knocking out every bit of air of his lungs as he was forced to bend over. However, he never let go of the void sword.

Inori's eyes immediately started glowing red in anger as she lifted her hands to punish the fool, but when Yuu simply lifted one of his own arms to signal her to stop, all of her power seemed to fade away, preventing her from taking action.

"You are going too far!" She hissed angrily at him.

"I won't let go of him until he returns your void. I will not settle for anything less." He told her without looking away from the scene.

"You realize that even these rings won't control me anymore if you kill him, right?" This made him look at her with a smirk.

"I am well aware. Don't worry, he won't get killed. I just have to teach him a lesson." When she looked at him in confusion, he added: "Da'ath always wins. He may struggle all he want, but in the end, he will still do as he's told, even if he's a king."

In the meantime, Shu had been repeatedly hit by Nanba, but still refused to give up the sword. Many things went through his head while he endured the beating he received. Where he had gone wrong to have ended up this way, what he should do now to fix the situation, how he would get back on Da'ath for this, starting with Nanba,…it wasn't until his blood started to boil that he eventually couldn't even hear his own thoughts anymore. Too loud had the sound of it running through his veins become. He thought he might have heard some of his friends yell something…or maybe it was Harune who had finally intervened, but the beating eventually stopped. However, when the loud sound of metal hitting concrete echoed around the huge garage, he finally realized why the beating had really stopped. Looking down, he saw that his fingers had stopped clasping the hilt of Inori's void. He wondered why, when he started falling to his knew, followed by falling over to the ground. He suddenly understood why. He had lost all his strength.

"Shu!" He heard Inori cry out, but he wouldn't even look up. Too focused had he been on watching the enormous sword void dissolve into many silver threads. The more it dissolved, the less he could feel of her resting inside him. The moment it had vanished completely was the moment he had felt as if something had been forcibly ripped out of his heart. Helplessly he watched the silver threads flying over to his queen, where they vanished into a glowing hole on her chest.

Said queen received them with a pained expression. She felt as if a long lost a part of her had returned, but it had been a part she had never wanted to gain back in the first place. It was something she had no longer even associated with herself, already thinking of it as Shu's. To be forced to take it back now felt wrong. Like she had committed a sin. As she put her hands on her chest, directly above where the glowing hole had been just now, she could do little more than look at her king in sadness.

"With this, I have taken your queen, Adam. If you want her back, you will know where to find me. It's checkmate once again, I am afraid." The envoy said as he buried his hands into the pockets of his coat. The king did not reply to that, just remained lying there, struggling to get up again. It caused Yuu to frown in displeasure, but he decided to ignore this display of weakness for now, knowing that Shu was a man who always found his way back to his feet, no matter the hardship. There was a reason why he was Adam, after all. He was sure he would grow from this experience as well. Hopefully, into the right direction this time. Turning to Nanba, he then said:

"Get the twins. We are leaving."

"Sure." He nodded at that and went over to the still sleeping girls. He picked up one of them with ease, then watched Sudou order his remaining subordinate to take the other one. Once the envoy saw that they were all set, he nodded in satisfaction, turned around and started walking to the car park's exit. The others followed him. Inori remained standing there, watching Shu slowly getting up. Their eyes met, sharing a look of pain, regret and utter sadness with each other. The king started to stretch out his hand at her weakly, causing her to mirror the movement shortly after.

"We don't have all day, Eve. Same goes for you, comrade Harune."

Hearing the envoy's words, Inori found herself forced to obey. Reluctantly, she lowered her hand and turned around to go after the man who had called her. Once Shu saw that, his heart sank and he let his head hang in despair.

So this was it? The end of them? It hadn't even been a month yet since he had finally gotten her back, only to see her go again. Was this to be their fate? To always be drawn to one another, yet be cursed to never be truly together? It was as if they were standing in the same room, yet had an unbreakable wall of glass standing between them. They could see each other, yearn for each other, but no matter how much they tried to break the glass, how much they fought to finally be with the one they loved…they would never get there.

The footsteps of Harune passing him by caught his attention.

"A fine organization you have decided to join, Harune." He told her sarcastically without looking up. His words made her come to a halt, turning around to him only to offer him an expression filled with sadness.

"I am sorry it turned out this way…"

" _Sorry_ …?" The broken man tried to chuckle, but ended up coughing instead. "I have just lost _everything_. Do you think your _sorry_ will mean anything to me?"

The girl only shook her head at him slowly. "Not everything. You still have your friends, don't you?"

"For now. It will only be a matter of time before Da'ath will come for them as well." He managed to get on his knees while using his arms as support. Hare's void wrapped itself around him again as its owner couldn't bear to see him hurt so badly any longer.

"Don't say that, Shu. Next time, we will definitely win." She tried to give him new hope, but the king's gaze was not lifted off the ground. It was obvious he didn't feel the same way.

"I still refuse to believe that Da'ath is bad…" The former shop clerk then said defiantly. "What they did to you today may have been drastic, but I think you forced their hand, Shu. If you would only try to cooperate a bit more,…" Whatever she wanted to say, Shu had absolutely no desire to hear it.

"Get the hell out, Harune." Was all he had to say to her as he clenched his fists in anger. The brunette woman looked hurt, but complied. Turning around, she said:

"I will look after Eve for you…" After a small break, she added: "Bye, Shu." Then she was seen running off to catch up with her…superiors…? Friends? The hell if Shu knew what they were to her. He really couldn't care less.

Look after Eve she said…what a fucking joke. Was he supposed to feel grateful for that? After they had pretty much just run him and his friends down, beat the crap out of them and topped it off by forcibly taking his queen away from him? Wasn't she just adding salt to injury?

Cooperating with Da'ath…that joke of hers had been so bad, he couldn't even laugh about it. Who would ever work with these assholes after all they had done? The mere thought of standing side by side with that hell spawn of an organization disgusted him. To reward them with the apocalypse they so desired? Never! The new world would already be as rotten as this one was if that Da'ath vermin was allowed to live in it as well.

No, he would crush them first. Completely. Until there was not a single one of them left. Only then would he allow himself to rest. He lifted his gaze to look into the direction he saw Yuu walk away with Inori following behind him and an unbelievable rage consumed him. To be forced to merely sit here and watch him take her away from him. It drove him mad. He raised both his fists and slammed them down to the ground with all his might, letting out all of his erupting emotions in a loud, earsplitting cry.

All of his hatred, all of his anguish and anger…he let it all out without showing any restraint. His voice echoed through the car park and reached even Yuu and his companions, despite the distance they had already managed to put between them. Their reaction to it varied greatly. Nanba and his friends smirked in victory, Harune averted her gaze sadly, Inori let tears silently travel down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and Yuu? He frowned with a troubled expression, clearly finding no pleasure in this whole situation. He was returning home today with nothing but the consolation prize.

Yes, he got Eve, but he never had a doubt he would get her back in the first place. Rather than just reclaiming her, he had hoped he would bring Adam on board as well. He had assumed that by giving him his preferred Eve, his unwillingness regarding the bringing of the apocalypse would vanish. And while that had stood true, as was confirmed by him himself, it had also revealed an entirely new problem at the same time. It wasn't the apocalypse he was unwilling to bring, but Da'ath as a whole he was unwilling to cooperate with. Yuu had not taken into consideration the factor of resentment humans could develop for each other and now he had to pay the price for it.

Adam's thoughts regarding Da'ath were already so bad, that he wouldn't even consider joining them if the envoy were to promise him heaven on earth. You could call it a relationship that had deteriorated to such an extent that it had become irreparable. And at this point, it would be impossible to get him on board except if he were to break him first, which would be hard and time consuming, given Adam's stubbornness and willpower.

He sighed silently with closed eyes. Why did things always end up being more complicated than they had to be? And all of that during a time in which Da'ath was becoming so restless. They had no time for this…

He had to plan his next moves more carefully for sure. Failure was not an option…

With that thought, they finally left the car park, leaving the king's party all to themselves.

"They are gone…" Yahiro realized as he saw them vanish from his sight, rubbing his wrists after Hare hat removed his restrains for him. He had been the last one.

"What the hell just happened?" Tsugumi couldn't help but ask them in confusion. She had been unconscious during the first part of the conservation between Shu and the enemy and had thus been completely lost once she had finally woken up.

"I am not entirely sure myself…" Jun answered while shaking his head in disbelief and looked down. "All I know is that we have suffered a crushing defeat just now."

"I won't accept this…" They heard the king grumble silently as he got up, fists still clenched. Blood was dripping from them since he had hit the ground with all of his might just now. Hare bit on her lower lip as she saw that, immediately fixing it for him with her void.

"Shu…" She didn't really know what to say to him, knowing that he must feel terrible right now. She figured that there were just no words in existence right now to cheer him up, which is why she just silently walked up to him and hugged him from behind. This made him lift his gaze from the ground at last, making him look up at the ceiling which ironically offered him the same bleak grey as the ground had, instead of letting him see the wide, free sky he had foolishly wanted to see right now. He smiled bitterly. How accurate it all was. The world did feel pretty colorless and confining to him right now, so was it really that weird that he was surrounded by nothing but grey concrete?

At least there was still Hare's warmth, he realized, being infinitely grateful to not stand all alone right now out of fear he would fall back down and sink into despair again without her support. It seemed that there had been _some_ truth amidst the bullshit Harune had been talking about today. He _did_ still have his friends, so he had not yet lost completely. He realized then and there what he had to do…and he knew exactly _how_ to do it, too.

"I intend to fight until the very end. Until either I or Da'ath gets completely crushed. I would understand if you would want to get out of it while you still can." He told them with seriousness in his voice. He felt Hare's arms holding him even closer.

"What are you saying, Shu? Who's gonna heal your wounds if I were to leave you now? Without me, you would bleed to death from a mere paper cut." A weak smile appeared on his lips. When he felt a strong hand put itself on his right shoulder, he looked at his side to see Yahiro offering him a confident smile as well.

"Man, how often do I have to tell you that I am on your side? The only way to get rid of me is killing me." He told him jokingly.

"Please allow this humble vassal of yours to continue serving you, my king." He then heard Jun say next to him, putting his right hand on his chest and slightly bowing in a polite manner. He had done so with closed eyes, but opened one to look at his king with a playful grin.

"Heck, where would we even go? We are wanted terrorist, so we wouldn't even be able to leave you even if we wanted you." Tsugumi explained with a sigh as she shrugged. "Think about what you are saying, you stupid baboon." The king merely chuckled at her sofly, knowing it was her own way of showing her support.

He gently broke away from Hare's hug and stepped forward, followed by turning around to face them with nothing but pride and happiness. He was glad to call these guys his friends.

"Thank you." He told them with a short nod, pleased to see determination and trust for him gleaming in their eyes. His face transformed into one of resolve as well as he turned around and took the first step into their future.

"Let's go."

His friends followed suit immediately, getting overwhelmed by all kinds of feelings when they saw the king leading the way. They felt as if something had changed. This was still the Shu they knew, but he was now surrounded in an aura he had never had before. Just looking at him filled them with confidence, pride, bravery and inspiration. He gave off the impression of being a giant mountain that stood tall in front of him, protecting them from everything that would come from the front. All he asked in return was for them to watch his back. And heck, they would.

Yahiro nodded confidently, Jun clenched his fist in determination, Hare watched Shu's back with sparkling eyes and Tsugumi couldn't help but grin in anticipation of the things they would soon do.

"Where are we going?" They asked their king in high spirits. Without turning around, he answered them:

"The hideout. We have a kingdom to claim."

When they finally managed to leave the giant underground garage, they realized that it was already evening. The sun was setting in the distance and not a trace was left of Yuu and his followers, which Shu noticed with a silent frown. Well, he would worry about that later. It might have sounded weird, but he had bigger problems right now…or rather, not bigger, but more pressing. He hated to admit it, but he stood no chance against Da'ath the way he currently was. He needed to regain his war potential and eliminate his competition first. The road to victory would be a hard one, but he would take it without a doubt. One step at a time. He owed Inori that much.

By the time they had managed to find out to which section of the city they had been taken and found their way back to their headquarters in Yokohama, the sun had already set completely, causing the night to come. The first stars were already starting to appear when Jun knocked against the hidden door of the former factory.

_Thud Thud Thud_

"Open up in the name of the king!" He yelled load and proudly, after he had made sure that there had been no one but them around, of course.

The door was slowly opened by two Undertakers, who eyed him in a suspecting way.

"Oh, it's you…" One of them grumbled in boredom, until he saw the king push the door open to enter without even wasting a glance on them.

"Wh-what? They brought Shu back?" He heard the other one mumble in shock as soon as he had seen him. His friends followed him as he wordlessly marched in. That was until they grabbed Jun by his arm rudely.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" the young man demanded to know. His brother eyed the guards angrily as he approached them, his hand finding its way to the back of his belt where he stored his pistol, only to realize that said firearm was no longer there. Oh, right. He had lost it at the abandoned research institute. Annoyed, he asked:

"Is there a problem?"

"He's a Genesis, right? Genesis are to be held under supervision in hall 2." One of the Undertakers told them bitterly as he attempted to take the younger sibling away. However, he was stopped by the king who immediately took a hold of the arm the Undertaker used to hold down Jun with.

"Take these filthy hands off my vassal this instant…" Was all he needed to say to make the man's blood freeze solid. He was so surprised by the tone that he felt himself entirely unable to comply, which the king understood as an attempt to disobey. That's why he simply headbutted him before he could even ready himself for the pain. The guard let go of Jun and merely stumbled back, falling on his butt and looking at Shu in confusion. His partner growled angrily and attempted to draw his gun on the king, but he didn't get far before the brunette man had summoned Yahiro's void and pressed it at the Undertaker's neck who froze the very next moment.

"The Undertakers will soon be under _my_ management again, so whoever it was whose orders you were following until now, they will soon no longer matter anymore…" Shu told the man coldly. "If you still insist on trying to stop us, however, I will gladly have you sent over to the morgue…"

"We don't have a morgue, Shu…" Tsugumi found the need to point out.

"Not yet at least…" Yahiro said threateningly as he helped his brother up after he had fallen down during the commotion.

"So, what will it be? Will you stand down or shall I let you have the honor of becoming our inauguration-corpse?" The king then asked the guard who still stood at his mercy. Without another word, he dropped his gun and surrendered. This was followed by Shu wordlessly shoving him aside and leading the way again. He dismissed the void shears as they were no longer needed.

"That's what I thought."

They had barely even left the entrance, when he took a glance over at Jun. "You okay, Jun?" The younger Samukawa brother offered him a thankful nod.

"Yes, thank you." Satisfied, the king directed his gaze forward again. "So what is the situation in this place?" He asked his friends, not really caring who would respond. It was Tsugumi who took the honor upon herself.

"It's bad, Shu. The Undertakers are divided into two camps. Those who support Argo, and those who don't. Argo's camp holds the majority."

"So that idiot's still here?" They heard their king inquire with a frown.

"Yes, and he is keeping the Genesis locked down in hall 2, having guns pointed at them 24/7. He intends to use them for an attack on loop seven by threatening to kill them if they refuse." Hare informed him.

"Where can I find him?" Was all the king wanted to know right now.

"He will most likely be at the command center." Yahiro assumed, earning a nod from Shu.

He took out the pistol he had received from Argo's underling the day before. Checking the magazine, there indeed was not a single round in there, meaning it only held the one in the barrel. Without batting an eye, he shoved the empty magazine back into the gun. He would make sure to return what he had borrowed that day. One bullet he had received, so one he would return.

"I am sure you all are aware what I am about to do. If you have any objections, this would be the time to voice them." His friends saw him turn his head around to them halfway, checking for their reactions.

"None from me." The strategist replied without the slightest bit of hesitation. Next to him, his brother nodded in agreement.

"Justice must be served." His gaze went down towards the floor. "For Inori…"

Hare did not say anything, only looked as if she had already made up her mind a long time ago. Thinking back, she and Argo never had been on good terms right from the start…she would have probably never asked for his execution, but going out of her way to stop it? She wouldn't do that either. It had been common practice in the void realm, too, so it wouldn't be her fist one to witness. If this was what Shu thought was necessary, then she would support it. It wasn't as if Argo's crime could be denied anyway.

Everyone's eyes then rested on Tsugumi who had been the one among them who had known Argo the longest and thus would likely have the most reasons to be against it. The dark haired technician could only avert her gaze with a troubled expression.

"I don't understand what it matters to ask me…would you stop if I asked you not to do it?"

"No…" The king replied honestly. "But I would offer my sincerest apologies and hope that you would find it in your heart to forgive me one day."

She shook her head with a sad smile. "That won't be necessary. To be honest, I still think of him as a friend…but no matter if he is a friend or not…he has made a mistake. And like everyone, he will have to answer for it. He once told me the very same words when he convinced me to not step in during the time the students rebelled against you in loop seven. I agreed to him then, so I would feel like a hypocrite if I were to defend him now. Do what you must, Shu. I won't stop you…" Said man stopped walking, turned around and put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"Thank you, Tsugumi. For understanding. You don't have to watch it, if you don't want to. In fact, I think it would be nice if there was someone to warn the Undertakers that those who continue to side with Argo will soon regret it. I would like to at least give them a chance to avoid his fate.."

"Then I will take you up on that offer…" She told him with a thankful nod, still with a sad smile on her face, as she slowly retreated from the party. "I guess…I will see you later, then…" With that, she waved them goodbye and ran off. Shu wasn't sure if he had seen tears appear in her eyes as she had turned around or if it had only been his imagination. He watched her leave for a while, before he turned around again.

"Let's finish this."

-GC-

Meanwhile at the former lounge, now command center of the Undertakers, a certain ex-soldier of the SDF was currently reviewing his tactics with the pathetic rest that had remained of Shu and Inori's council. The round table was surrounded by vacant chairs with the sole exception being Haruka's and Ayase's, the latter not even having a chair in the first place, since she came with her own.

Neither of them seemed all that much motivated with Haruka leaning her head against her hand in a bored manner. She didn't even look at the man talking while Ayase was sitting in her wheelchair, eying him defiantly and with folded arms.

Argo didn't really mind their rudeness and decided to remain professional. In front of them, in the middle of the table, was a holographic projection of the map of Tokyo. He zoomed in on loop seven's southwestern border where three green X's appeared and explained:

"The SDF defenses are confirmed to be the weakest to the southwest, namely here, here, and here. I plan to let the Genesis take the frontlines to be the spearhead of our assault while we rush in after them and support them from behind."

"Suicide." Ayase merely stated harshly. "We may breach the SDF defenses easily, but what about the hostile Genesis inside loop seven? They outnumber us at least three to one, not to mention that _our_ Genesis aren't even loyal anymore, meaning that they will just wait for the first chance they get to turn on us."

Argo frowned, knowing that the Endlave pilot had a point. "…they won't fight us if we keep the children here as hostages." Was what he then decided on, much to Haruka's dismay.

"Listen to yourself, Argo! What you tried doing to Shu and Inori was bad enough already, but this is a new low. Cease this nonsense!" She yelled and she stood up and slammed both her hands on the table.

"You think I like doing this? Have you any better ideas to keep the Genesis in line?" He retorted angrily.

"Maybe you should have thought about that _before_ you kicked the two sole people out who could effectively control them…" Ayase grumbled reproachfully at him.

"I didn't kick them out…not Shu at least…" He tried to correct her.

"And you thought that would work? What did you expect to happen, Agro? Even if he had killed her, did you honestly believe he would have still worked with you? It was such a foolish plan, I still can't believe you actually went for it."

"You say all of this now, but we all knew Inori was a walking time bomb. She _had_ to be diffused." The former soldier yelled defiantly. Haruka merely folded her arms in front of her and looked away, mumbling in an opposing fashion:

"And yet here we stand, still alive even after you betrayed her. I find it hard to believe this _time bomb_ of yours would have went off anytime soon if she didn't even decide to launch the apocalypse after what you had put her through. Heck, I wouldn't even have blamed her at that point."

"It doesn't matter anymore. She is gone now…" Argo tried to bring the subject to a close, getting tired of hearing it.

"Yeah, as is everyone else…" Ayase said scornfully as she lifted her arms to point at the empty chairs around them. "Shu's gone, Yahiro is gone, Hare as well,…no void genome, no strategist, no medic, not even the guy who had the best relationship with the Genesis after Shu and Inori is still here anymore. I may still be here, sure, but I can't pilot my Endlave alone, Argo. And Tsugumi went off as well." She reminded him bitterly.

"Deserters, the whole lot of them. Does no one know what's really important anymore? This isn't about love, friendship or anything. This is about survival. How do they expect us to win now? We can't do this on our own…" The ladies saw Argo gnaw on his right thumb's nail in frustration. Served him right, they thought simultaneously.

"If saving the world means sacrificing your loved ones, then it can just die. What meaning is there to staying alive if you have to abandon everything else?" Ayase rejected the man's claim with a disappointed shake of the head.

"I agree. I would have been long gone as well if it weren't for Shuichiro still being held in prison. Which I still believe was your doing, by the way." Haruka added with a scowl as she eyed the traitor.

Said man looked down in shame. "It's not like I hadn't tried to stop it…but no one listened to me anyway. They only follow the orders they want to follow. I am only in control as long as I do what they want me to do…" He gritted his death and slammed his clenched fist against the table. "Damnit!"

"Congratulation, Argo. You became the marionette of the Undertakers." Ayase drily replied to him.

"This is not at all what I had wanted…" He could only shake his head in defeat as he sat down weakly, leaning back and looking up at the dirty window above.

"Without the void genome, we stand no chance against Da'ath. We can't use our Endlave and half of our war potential isn't listening to me while the other portion is out to defect the first chance they get. Is this the end, I wonder?" He closed his eyes with a deep sigh, asking himself if it wasn't still too late to return to the SDF at this point. They didn't stand a chance against Da'ath, either, but at least he would die while fighting side by side with disciplined soldiers. It was far more honorable than rotting away in this stupid room, waiting for either the Genesis or an unsatisfied Undertaker to come and get him.

That was the moment the door swung open to reveal a certain brunette king and his followers who quietly entered the room. A knowing frown appeared on the former soldier's face. Ask not for whom the bell tolls…, was it?

"So he really was here, after all…" Shu quietly said with a cold expression. Haruka and Ayase only looked at him as if he was a ghost.

"Shu?" His mother was the first to recover from her shock. Running up to him, she didn't hesitate to embrace him with all her might, clearly happy to see her son alive and well. "Are you hurt anywhere? You are not, right?"

The young man only offered her a kind smile as he returned the hug. "I am fine, mother. You don't need to worry."

"Thank goodness…"

That's when he spotted Ayase coming rolling towards them with a relieved expression as well.

"Welcome back, everyone. It's good to see you all managed to come back in one piece." That's when she saw their smiles dropping.

"Not all of us did…" Shu told her with a frown. Her eyes immediately widened, scanning the party members worriedly. It wasn't long until she noticed the distinctive lack of a certain bad mannered hacker's presence.

"Don't tell me…Tsugumi…?"

"Tsugumi is fine…" Yahiro quickly eased her worries with folded arms, followed by looking away. "Inori, on the other hand, is…"

The two women were taken aback by this news, instantly noticing how the king's eyes disappeared behind brown hair as he looked down. Seeing this, Haruka was reluctant to ask, but eventually still did.

"What happened to Inori…?"

"…she's gone." Was all the king managed to say, followed by clutching the right sleeve of his jacket with gritted teeth. "And I was powerless to stop it from happening…!" Anger rose up inside him. At himself for being still too weak, at Da'ath for always getting in their way and most of all…

His furious gaze rose up to look at Argo. This guy, who had caused this whole mess in the first place. If Inori and he had been allowed to remain here, no one would have been able to take her away from him. No one! A fortified base, an army of Genesis, his friends and their powerful voids always at their side. They would have sooner seen the sky come crashing down on the earth than the enemy successfully breaching their defenses…but this guy wouldn't have it, no. He had to spontaneously decide that having Inori here would have been too dangerous, so he had forced them to leave.

Gone were the protective walls, gone were the loyal Genesis, gone were his friends and while he still had retained most of their voids, little good would they have done him with a broken leg, which he had _also_ only received because _this guy_ decided he had to change the rules.

Honestly, if he weren't already convinced that Argo really hated Da'ath, he would consider him to be their best agent after the envoy. Where else would you find such a capable man with these magnificent skills which excelled in the act of fucking your friends over. He was a bloody master at that. With friends like these, who even needed Da'ath? The only faster way to screw you up would be to walk up to their gates yourself, armed with nothing but a sign that read "I surrender!" and the only reason Argo hadn't managed to make him do _that_ was because he hadn't mastered the act of hypnosis yet. Give him time and he will try to do that next, the king figured.

Well, too bad. Time was about to run out.

He gently pushed his mother aside as he stepped forward towards the traitor, who sighed and got up, forcing himself to give him a welcoming smile.

"Welcome back, Shu. It's good to have you back."

The king did not reply as he walked up to him and raised the pistol from before to the man's head. Ayase and Haruka gasped as they saw the sudden escalation. Haruka seemed to be shocked about the cold-blooded look in her son's eyes. A complete 180 from the caring look he had offered her just now.

"Recognize this, Argo?" They heard him ask harshly. The ex-soldier only let his fake smile fade to make a regretful expression appear on his face, knowing fully well what this was about.

"I do." He admitted sadly.

"You can have it back now."

"Do you think this is fair, Shu?" Came Argo's objections, which the brunette man had already expected to hear. Narrowing his eyes on him mercilessly, he answered:

"I told you what would happen."

"Yeah, but we had a deal, didn't we? You said you would kill Inori. You didn't. Thus the deal is void."

"Oh, is it now?" A sinister grin formed itself on his lips. Yahiro couldn't help but being involuntarily reminded of the last time he had abandoned Shu in Tennozu High. Back then, he had looked at him the same way. An unpleasant memory, indeed.

The king lowered his weapon and turned around halfway to face everyone in the room.

"Does anyone in here still remember the terms of the deal I made with Argo?" He asked calmly. The group found themselves thinking back. Hare was the first one to answer the question.

"'Inori's removal for Argo's life', was it?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Ayase agreed with a frown.

"That's what I remember as well." Jun confirmed with a confident nod. His older brother mirrored his actions.

"Ditto."

"I don't really remember, to be honest…" Haruka admitted, making her the odd one out. Her head had been full of other thoughts at the time.

"That's fine, mother. Four out of five is already more than enough proof." Shu told her, still smirking confidently. Argo couldn't help but raise a brow to that. He couldn't follow at all.

"Proof for what?"

"That the deal's still valid, of course."

"What are you talking about?"

The king's face became serious again all of a sudden.

"You wanted me to remove Inori from the picture, right? Take a look around. Do you see her anywhere?"

The traitor immediately took a step back once he finally understood where this was going. At first he was surprised, but the shock on his face transformed into anger.

"You son of a…" His curse got interrupted by Shu's angry yell:

"Do you?" The room became silent in an instant and stayed that way until Argo couldn't avoid sighing in defeat.

"No, Shu. I don't." The king raised his weapon again.

"Then my part of the deal has been fulfilled, which leaves us with yours."

"So this is how it's gonna be, then?" Argo asked with gritted teeth.

"You got what you wanted, didn't you? Inori's gone and I will take leadership once again. Shouldn't you be happy…?" The king asked sarcastically.

The traitor closed his eyes, looking disappointed. "Surprisingly enough, I am not. I thought setting you back on the right path would be enough, but turns out it leaves me with a bitter aftertaste. I know I did the right thing, but…doing the right thing somehow doesn't feel fulfilling at all. I feel like I have tried too much for nothing. To die like this…it's an empty feeling." Shu could only offer the man a mocking chuckle, though Argo couldn't help but hear some faint remains of sympathy in it.

"Welcome to the real world. When we are little, we are all told stories about heroes and their great deeds. How being noble and just always pays off. But when we grow up, we eventually come to see that doing that way is never worth it. The more you save, the more you lose in return. And the more you lose, the more empty you become inside. Until you finally come to realize that concepts like heroes and villains are nothing but childish fantasies and you at long last stop pretending to be either. Unfortunately for you, the realization came a bit too late."

"It would appear that way…" Argo said bitterly as he went down on his knees, sitting in a straight posture and letting his fists rest on his lap. He would await his punishment with honor and dignity. "I suppose that you won't assume the role of a hero again after the things you have just said. Then I guess my actions really turned out to be all for nothing."

He looked up at the king, expecting a derisive smirk on his lips, or at least a bitter frown. He was surprised to see a weak smile appear on his face instead as he lowered the weapon once more.

"I would love to agree, but they were not. It might sound strange, but even through your actions ruined me and might be our downfall in the end, there is still something I need to thank you for, even despite all that. That is opening my eyes."

Everyone in the room threw questioning looks at him, so he decided to elaborate,

"I never was a big man, Argo. When I grew up, I thought I would lead the most boring life anyone could even imagine and I was fine with that. When the Undertakers stumbled into my life, I was overwhelmed and tried my hardest to stay away, but I was like a pitiful insect, caught in a spider's web. The more I tried to get away, the more entangled I ended up becoming…and when I finally got the chance to leave it all behind again, I realized that it had already become a part of me I could no longer shed away. The day I decided I was one of you was the day I began my descent into that downward spiral that was to become my chosen fate. Unknowingly, I had accepted my role as king over the role of a peasant. But even though I had chosen, I was far from ready."

The king melancholically looked up to the skylight above which was covered in snow.

"I never wanted to be king, never even thought I could do it properly. When I had decided I was one of the Undertakers, I had done so because I wanted to be friends with you all, nothing more. So when the opportunity arose to make my debut as a monarch, I did the thing I could do best. Run away. It wasn't until Hare died, that I understood what fate was trying to tell me. I had long since lost the option to escape my destiny at that point. Becoming a king was already the path I was set on…there was no turning back anymore, only the way forward. And so I accepted my crown at last, becoming the king of Tennozu High. But just because I accepted it, didn't mean I was ready. There were mistakes. Horrible mistakes. I eventually ended up paying for them with the crown I had chosen to bear. You might think that would have been the end of it. I did, too. But it was but a naïve thought."

Shaking his head, he eventually casted his gaze downwards, closing his eyes in what looked to be regret.

"Even though I had lost my crown, my enemies remained to be there. There was no escape anymore, no matter if I had decided to give up on kingship or not. It was either regaining my crown or dying. And when Inori got captured, I knew dying was not a viable option. I got up and retrieved my crown. And with it, I marched forward to get back what was taken from me. It was but a futile operation. Though we might have won, I still returned home with the bitter feeling of loss. Because I had tried to save everyone, I ended up losing the one thing in the world I could never have afforded to lose. It was then that I learned the lesson you learned today, Argo. That being a hero was nothing but a way to ruin yourself. And when everyone decided to call me one afterwards, I couldn't help but feel mocked. And rightfully so. I had been a fool all along."

Everybody looked at him in sympathy as he clenched his fist in front of him with gritted teeth.

"I decided to put down my crown, thinking of my rule as being over. I never wanted anything to do with it again, knowing what it had cost me the last time I had decided to wear it. That was until the shadows of my past managed to catch up to me. I was forced to make the realization that I don't get to decide when my rule was over and when it wasn't. A king rules until his last breath, and even though I understood that, I refused to believe it. ' _Just this one more time. Until Da'ath is finally defeated_.' , I told myself. I would become a king temporarily again to bring an end to it at last, wanting to reach a point in which I could put down my crown for good to have a peaceful life together with Inori and you all. A life in which we could be happy, without the worries of a monarch. A grave mistake you have managed to let me realize, Argo. Even though you did something unforgivable, your actions led me to an outcome that made me finally accept who I really am."

He looked down at him with eyes which were filled with dedication as much as they were with sadness.

"I lost Inori today not because of you, or because of Da'ath. Not really, at least. No, I lost her because I was still refusing to truly become what I am meant to be. I had accepted to be king before, but I never had the resolve to stick to it until the end. Even when Inori officially appointed me as her king, all I ever did was preparing myself for the time I would finally be able to leave that title behind. Just yesterday, I shamed her by having talks about running away again. It's like I haven't grown at all in all this time. I am pathetic."

He closed his eyes in shame for a second. The looks his friends gave him were mixed, but had one thing in common. Sympathy.

"Shu…" Hare couldn't help but whisper with a pained expression

That was until his eyes opened again. This time having lost all of their sadness.

"You are not the only man who dies today, Argo. Ouma Shu will die as well. And as he fades into oblivion, from his corpse, a new man will arise. This is what I have decided. I will at long last accept my fate completely and become the king my people and my queen need me to be. From today on, I will truly ascend the throne as a monarch. And I will remain one until the day I die. I am done with running away."

The room was then filled with the silent voices of awe everyone was unknowingly uttering. This announcement of his had sounded so confident, so honest, that none of them could find a way to respond to it. Speechless they thus remained standing there, staring at their leader with inspiration as he stood in front of them in pride.

His mother looked at her son with mixed feelings. On one hand, she wanted to run up to him and embrace him, save him from the sinful path he had just vowed he would walk on from now on, but on the other hand, she already noticed the immense gap between them. It felt as if a huge chasm had opened up in front of her, with her son standing on the other side. The bonds with his mother still remained, dangling between them strong and indestructible, but the thread that symbolized it alone wasn't enough to travel the seemingly infinite distance between her and Shu safely anymore. She saw him looking over at her from the other side with a kind smile, followed by offering her a grateful and respectful bow. Then he turned around and walked into the opposite direction. Into his future.

That was how far she felt Shu had come in life. Even though she wanted to hold him and protect him for a while longer, she had to make the realization that her dear and sweet son had already grown up to be strong enough to stand in this world on his own.

She couldn't help but look down with a sad smile. The time every mother was afraid of has eventually come for her as well. The time a mother had to stop viewing her own son as a kid anymore, and start looking at him as a man. She had always known that this day would come, but when it eventually did, she felt as if it had come out of nowhere, catching her totally off-guard.

The king's friends, too, felt overwhelmed with his sudden declaration. A small smile appeared on Yahiro's lips as he started to shake his head slowly with folded arms.

"As a man, I feel like I have lost to Shu just now."

"Yeah, he sure is something, huh?" His little brother couldn't help but agree with a similar expression.

Hare could only fold her hands together in front of her as she watched the king with eyes sparkling from admiration and Ayase couldn't refrain from staring at him with her mouth slightly agape from awe. Even she had to admit that he had sounded kind of cool right now, though the thought made her blush slightly. That was until she heard Argo snicker quietly to himself.

"I see. If it's like this, I suppose my life is only a small price to pay. I am satisfied with that." He said with a sad smile. "Though it's such a shame I won't see you actions as a true king anymore."

"So have you made peace with the thought of dying?" Was what Shu wanted to know as he looked down at him. The man nodded.

"Yeah. I was never afraid of death in the first place. I am even a bit surprised to have remained alive for this long. Maybe it is time for me already. My only fear had always been that I would die meaninglessly, but after hearing all that, I think that might not be the case anymore."

"I see…" The brunette man decided to point the weapon at the traitor once more, until he heard Ayase rolling up to their side, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Wait, Shu! Is there really no other way? I know what he did was horrible, but…" She tried to defend Argo but only saw Shu shaking his head in front of her slowly.

"I cannot forgive him." Was all he had to say, though he offered the woman an understanding look. This man was her longtime friend, after all. She had known him even longer than he had. She looked down in sadness, biting on her lower lip.

"It's fine, Ayase." Argo then said, still with that satisfied smile of his. "It's my fault I ended up this way. It had been my own actions that brought me to this outcome."

This made her stare at him in anger, tears slightly filling up in her eyes.

"Damn right you are, you stupid idiot! Why in the hell did you have to do something like that!" She yelled at him accusingly, only to make him sigh acceptingly.

"It's what I thought was right. And isn't it fine? Look how Shu turned out to be in the end."

"That's not worth dying over for!"

"It's not that bad. This way, I can catch up with my old pal Oogumo again. Ah, that's right. Shall I tell him something from you and Tsugumi?"

Ayase felt something inside her snap. How could this idiot be so calm about dying? With gritted teeth she rolled up to him and slapped him as hard as she could. Repeatedly.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stuuuuupiiiiid!" She was about to finish her barrage with one final hit, when she felt her hand being caught in midair. Looking at it, she realized that Shu was the one holding it.

"That's enough, Ayase." He told her with sadness in his eyes. "If you go on like this, it will be you who will dirty her hands with his blood, rather than me." He offered her a small smile. "I doubt you would want that."

"Shu…" Tears were finally traveling down her cheeks as she watched his soft expression. As realization over her actions hit her, she couldn't help but look down in shame at the same time he released his grip on her.

Argo was chuckling slightly at her, ignoring the pain of his inflamed cheeks. "That's Ayase for you. No mercy for the damned at all." He jokingly said. A short break followed.

"I'll be going on ahead, so watch over Tsugumi and Shu for me, alright? Shu may now appear more dependable, but we both know how hopeless they both are deep down, right?"

"Yeah…" Was all Ayase managed to say to that at first, but then angrily added: "I hope Oogumo continues where I left off until he manages to finally beat all the stupid out of you."

This made the traitor laugh. "Yeah, let's hope that."

"Idiot…" With that final word, Ayase eventually decided to roll back and out of the way, watching the rest of the event with a regretful expression on her face.

"Sorry to have made you wait." They heard Argo say as he reassumed his straight kneeling posture in front of Shu. The smile was gone now, replaced by a serious expression. Shu only nodded wordlessly.

The room became quiet as everyone watched and waited for Shu to do the next step. That's when his loud and powerful words filled the room.

"I, King Ouma Shu, first of his name, Adam of the apocalypse, have found you, Argo Tsukishima, to be guilty of the act of high treason, a crime which holds the death penalty. I hereby sentence you to die."

Loudly and confidently, Argo chose to reply without the slightest speck of fear in his voice: "I accept your judgment!"

"Then so be it." Aiming the pistol at Argo's head, the king then proceeded to pull the trigger without hesitation. A loud bang filled the room and the traitor's vision turned white for a brief second before fading into black forever. The last thing they heard was Argo falling over lifelessly and hitting the ground with a dull thud as well as the bullet's hull landing on the floor with a clinking sound.

As the king felt Argo's void crumble apart in his void arm, he announced: "It is done. The debt has been paid."

Everyone present just remained standing where they were, all of them having their own thoughts in silence. While most of them looked saddened, there might have been a bit of satisfaction hidden in one or two of their faces.

However, once Shu put the gun down on the table and proceeded to lift Argo's corpse up to put it over his shoulder, all he could see was confusion.

"What are you doing, Shu?" His mother asked for the whole group.

"Finishing unfinished business. Follow me." With these words, he led the way. His friends merely threw a curious glance at each other before trotting behind him.

In silence they traveled through the hallway, none of them really knowing what to say. A small trail of blood was left by Argo's corpse, but if the king cared, he didn't show it to them. He just kept marching on with his gaze directed forward until they reached their destination. Hall 2.

Without a word, he pushed the doors open to reveal a huge gathering of people, similar to what he had seen the night before, where Undertakers had held the Genesis as hostages. Well, it appeared nothing had changed between now and then. There were still armed Undertakers en masse and the Genesis were still all perched together in one corner of the room, glaring at their oppressors angrily.

As he passed a few Undertakers, he noticed their nervous mumbling among them. It sounded like some of them were growing restless about the rumor that Shu would punish the ones who sided with Argo, undoubtedly spread around by Tsugumi. Some appeared to believe it, while others sounded confident it was all just a bluff. Hearing that made a small smirk appear in Shu's face. They would soon see what exactly was going to be a bluff and what would not.

His way led him to the stairs leading to the higher industrial platforms overlooking the room. Yahiro carried Ayase up while Jun took her wheelchair. Some Undertakers began noticing them, as was evident by them pointing their fingers at them, but the king and his companions didn't mind them at all, just kept going until they stood on the platform which was at the right, longer side of the rectangular hall, right at the point that marked its half. From there, they could see the whole room, and in return, everyone in the room could see them. He laid Argo down next to him, then put both his hands on the railing as he addressed the people, or rather, the Genesis specifically.

"Genesis!" He said loud enough to be heard, waiting until all of their eyes rested on him. "Let me ask you just one thing: What are you doing?"

The group of evolved looked at each other confusedly, obviously not understanding what their king was asking them. Most of them were even surprised he was back. He then continued.

"Did you know that while you were sitting here, getting pushed around by these humans, your queen ended up getting captured by the enemy and is now their hostage?" He told them angrily, followed by looking down sadly. He saw shock and worry appear on the Genesis' faces.

"I tried hard to protect her, believe me. I did everything I could, but it was not enough. I regret to inform you, that while we are standing here, she is already getting deported into the enemy stronghold in loop seven against her will. So let me ask you again, friends, citizens! What are you doing?"

While the majority still looked disheartened about the news, some of them started developing a determined expression on their faces. The first fists were lifted, raised into the air.

"We need to save her!"

"Yeah!"

"I agree!" Shu then yelled. "But do your actions really reflect your wishes? Aren't you all just sitting here, doing nothing? Again I ask you: What are you doing?"

When he was met by the troubled faces of his followers, he lifted up Argo's corpse and proceeded to throw it over the railing, making it fall to the ground in a rather unsettling sound. His friends winced, but said nothing.

"This is what _I_ did. You all should recognize this man, don't you?"

The Undertakers closest to the fallen corpse had pale faces once they recognized it's identity.

"Oi, isn't this…?"

"It's Argo!"

"What the fuck!"

"Indeed! The man who dared herding you all together like livestock yesterday. The man who made these fools around you point weapons at you and your queen. The man who forced us to flee, leaving us defenseless and easy to pick up by Da'ath! I came back here! And after I finally found him, I made him pay! You saw what your king did. Now show me what you are willing to do for your queen! Raise your voids, citizens! And use them to show these pitiful humans what it means to mess with you and your queen! It is nigh time that they learned that mankind's next step in evolution is not to be taken lightly!"

As he was holding his speech, he was pleased to see the looks of anger and determination appear on almost every Genesis. The fists that had been raised into the air were brought down to their chests and soon after, the room was filled in the light of people drawing out their voids. These were then raised into the air again as they began cheering their battle cries. The mood in the room gradually became more and more hostile, much to the disdain of the Undertakers. Most had already realized what Shu had been up to by now, but were too late to stop it from happening. They tried intimidating the hostages by aiming their weapons at them and firing warning shots, but none of them even flinched.

"Uh, Shu…" Yahiro couldn't help but say worriedly as he looked down at the situation downstairs which was slowly growing out of hand. "Isn't this looking kind of bad…?"

But the king only raised a finger to signal him to wait without even turning around. He wasn't done yet.

"But remember! Just because we are the superior life form, doesn't mean we must oppress the humans! They might be weaker and ignorant regarding the things important to us, but keep in mind that at one point, we all were like them! We all were born as humans. What makes us different is that we had the luck to attain the chance of evolving! Therefore, instead of pushing them around, guide them! Help them understanding the way of your queen! The way to a peaceful future! Let those willing to listen receive your guidance and let those deafened by blood rush feel your void instead! Now then, citizens! Friends! Let me ask you one last time: What are you doing?"

"We fight for our queen!" He heard them all yell in more or less unison. Following that, they began rushing into battle. The king's eyes narrowed with satisfaction as he watched the ground below become a battlefield.

"Exactly."

-GC-

The battle, if you could even call it that, had been over in less than 15 minutes and had been a decisive victory for the Genesis' side. The superior race had the clear advantage in numbers and weaponry, mowing down the enemy skillfully and with perfect precision. It would have been more accurate to call it a slaughter rather than a battle. No, a slaughter wasn't the right word, either. The Genesis had looked as if they had merely played with their adversaries, rather than fighting them.

Shu had been worried the Genesis would go overboard and fight the Undertakers who had decided to surrender as well, at which point he would have stepped into the battle to save them, but that never happened. Those who had held and aimed weapons at them had been dealt with while those who had dropped their weapons and run had been ignored. If they had the chance, the Genesis had even gone as far as to merely destroy the weapons of their opponents, rather than killing them, thus rendering them powerless and pretty much forcing them to give up.

You could say it was a ridiculously easy victory, which lied mainly in the fact that most Undertakers had given up fighting even before the battle had started. Many had surrendered in the middle of battle as well, realizing that they didn't stand a chance at all. Some downright refused, though, and were killed. A few Genesis casualties were suffered as well, but the amount was negligible.

All in all, Shu was more than pleased with the battle's outcome. In one, swift move, he had eliminated the hostile Undertakers while sparing the friendly ones. Sure, those who had surrendered still remained, but that would be a problem he would fix in a moment. This was a huge step forward.

"Hare." He addressed the loyal medic who immediately tensed up.

"Yes?"

"Please treat the wounded downstairs. Leave the ones who remain hostile alone."

"On it." She replied confidently and ran to the nearest stairs that would lead her down. He watched her go for a second before he allowed to survey the aftermath of the mayhem he had caused. The Genesis were cheering loudly amidst a room filled with bloodstains and the occasional corpse lying on the ground while the Undertakers stood at the other side of the hall and threw worried glances over to them and Shu. They had been spared for now, but they were bound to ask themselves what were to happen with them now. That was a question Shu would soon give them an answer to. All in due time, though.

"Well done, friends! You made these humans understand what it means to be a Genesis while also showing them the way of your queen! I am proud of you and am sure Inori would be as well!"

The Genesis gave their king some proud cheering.

"Like you guys, I too, intend to work hard to save our queen. And while I am at it, I will also crush Da'ath to ensure they never get their filthy hands on her again. To achieve that, though, some things around here will have to change drastically. I won't lie to you, I will be a strict king. I won't allow any form of defiance and discrimination between Genesis and humans. The coming days will undoubtedly be harsh ones but I promise you, that if you can endure them and follow my lead, we _will_ succeed." Shu told them with a raised fist. Everyone looked at him with a serious expression, Genesis and humans alike.

"However, I am aware that not all of us share the same level of enthusiasm and I won't force anyone to follow me. If you can't view me as a king, if you can't work alongside humans and Genesis, if you don't feel comfortable to risk your life for Inori or the battle against Da'ath, then please, by all means, just leave. We don't need such incompetence among our ranks and I intend to fight even if I have to do so by myself. Each and every one of you has time to decide until tomorrow whether he or she wants to be a part of this or not. I won't judge anyone who decides to leave, but if you decide to stay, please know that I will have you obey my command with no questions asked. There will be no buts and ifs. Keep that in mind when you decide."

He was pleased to see many of the men and women down there looking back up at him with resolve and confidence. Not just Genesis, but the humans as well. He was giving them now what they had wanted all along, after all. A man they could follow. Everyone probably understood that staying here was their best bet at achieving victory. He nodded confidently.

"Before I leave you alone to make your decision, I want to tell you just one more thing. As Adam, as someone who has lived through four apocalypses and actively fought in two to prevent them, I think I am more than qualified to say that I understand what the apocalypse truly is. It's not the end, like we all thought at first, but a new beginning. Death and Rebirth. And while we all reject the notion of it and try to prevent it, sometimes we are powerless to avoid it completely. Ladies and gentlemen, today each and every one of us has died, including me. Those of you who still stand are those who managed to be reborn and the ones you see lying motionless next to your feet are the ones who failed to do so. We all just went through a small apocalypse and we all evolved a tiny bit from it. Friends, when you go to sleep tonight, I want you all to take a look into the mirror. What you will see will be the new you. A new beginning. A new chance. Do not waste it!"

He saw the Genesis raise their fists in unison, followed by cheering. A few humans actually joined in.

"Ouma Shu has died and from his ashes arises King Ouma Shu the first!"

Cheer.

"The Undertakers have died and got reborn as the knights of the royal army!"

Cheer.

"Democracy has died. Long live the monarchy!"

The Genesis were ecstatic and began yelling "Long live the king!" over and over again. Shu took a proud stance and looked down at his vassals with a pleased look present on his face as he bathed in his followers' admiration.

That was right. He was king now. The SDF and Da'ath would soon learn what it meant to mess with him. He would show them. He would show them all.

Tokyo was his kingdom.

He would get rid of everyone who did not belong.

His gaze went up to the skylight where he could see into the dark night. Silently, he then vowed:

"Just wait for me, Inori. I will come for you. And this time, I won't be late."

He then turned around and walked away, leaving the scene of cheering behind. There was no time to waste and a lot work to be done.

Yuu wanted to play chess? Fine, let them play chess.

He would be surprised to see that this round, things wouldn't go his way.

The final checkmate was Shu's to claim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work will continue in the third book: "Reclaiming his Queen" - coming soon.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Hare's little secret](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4485723) by [GuiltyKingOumaShu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuiltyKingOumaShu/pseuds/GuiltyKingOumaShu)
  * [Survivor's Guilt](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11860770) by [GuiltyKingOumaShu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuiltyKingOumaShu/pseuds/GuiltyKingOumaShu)




End file.
